Cinatti, Ruy (1915-1986)

Ruy Cinatti (1915-1986) is a singular figure in the history of 20^th century Portuguese anthropology, expressed in the context of dictatorship and colonial rule, and then the transition to democracy in 1974. He obtained his doctorate from Oxford during Evans-Pritchard’s tenure, but was influenced by various authors, including the Brazilian anthropologist Gilberto Freyre, whose famous Luso-tropicalist theses he appreciated. A poet and humanist, his work in the fields of ethnology, botany and archaeology concerns the eastern part of the island of Timor, a distant colony of the Portuguese empire.

Keywords: Archaeology | Social and cultural anthropology | Humanist anthropology | Colonialism | 20^th century | Portugal | Southeast Asia | East Timor | Evans-Pritchard | Gilberto Freyre