Reo Fortune Explained

Reo Franklin Fortune (27 March 1903 – 25 November 1979) was a New Zealand-born social anthropologist. Originally trained as a psychologist, Fortune was a student of some of the major theorists of British and American social anthropology including Alfred Cort Haddon, Bronislaw Malinowski and Alfred Radcliffe-Brown.[1] He lived an international life, holding various academic and government positions: in China, at Lingnan University from 1937 to 1939; in Toledo, Ohio, USA from 1940 to 1941; at the University of Toronto, from 1941 to 1943; in Burma, as government anthropologist, from 1946 to 1947;[1] and finally, at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom from 1947 to 1971, as lecturer in social anthropology specialising in Melanesian language and culture.[2]

He was first married to Margaret Mead in 1928, with whom he undertook field studies in New Guinea from 1931 to 1933.[3] They divorced in 1936. Fortune subsequently married Eileen Pope, also a New Zealander, in 1937.[4]

Fortune provided significant insights into the consequences of matrilateral and patrilateral cross-cousin marriage in advance of work by Claude Levi-Strauss. He is also known for his contribution to mathematics with his study of Fortunate numbers in number theory.[5]

The 2014 novel Euphoria by Lily King is a fictionalized account of the relationships between Fortune, Mead and Gregory Bateson in pre-WWII New Guinea.[6]

Selected publications

Photographs

Many of the easily accessible images of Fortune include his one-time wife Margaret Mead, who was known for her interest in photography as an ethnographic method.[7]

The National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa) holds a large collection of family and fieldwork photos of Reo and Eileen Fortune's lives in China, North America, and England.[8]

In 1959 and again in 1970–71, Fortune revisited Dobu, the island community he made famous in his 1932 book, The Sorcerers of Dobu.[9]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Thomas, Caroline (2009) "Rediscovering Reo: Reflections on the life and anthropological career of Reo Franklin Fortune," Pacific Studies, vol. 32, nos. 2/3; June–Sept
  2. Gray, Geoffrey "Being honest to my science: Reo Fortune and JHP Murray, 1927–1930", The Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol. 10 (1), 1999, pp. 56–76
  3. Book: Adam, Kuper . The Chosen Primate: Human Nature and Cultural Diversity . 1994 . Harvard University Press . 978-0-674-12826-2 . 186–189 .
  4. Book: Thomas, Caroline. The Sorcerers' Apprentice: A Life of Reo Franklin Fortune, Anthropologist. 2011.
  5. Web site: Fortunate number . 19 April 2008 . The Prime Glossary .
  6. News: Eakin. Emily. Going Native: 'Euphoria,' by Lily King. 29 September 2017. The New York Times. 6 June 2014.
  7. Web site: Mead . Margaret . Francis . Patricia A. . 2001-11-30 . Manus: Childhood Thought - Margaret Mead: Human Nature and the Power of Culture Exhibitions - Library of Congress . 2024-02-10 . www.loc.gov.
  8. http://natlib.govt.nz/items/22790599 Fortune, Reo Franklin, 1903–1979 :Pho... | Items | National Library of New Zealand
  9. http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=63983&l=mi Object 63983 Detail | Te Reo Maori | Manuscripts & Pictorial | National Library of New Zealand