Elwin, Verrier (1902-1964)

Son of an Anglican bishop, Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) studied literature and theology at Oxford, with a passion for poetry and mysticism. Upon being ordained a minister of the Anglican Church, he joined a Christian hermitage in India as a missionary in 1927 to serve the poor and “repair” the faults of colonialism. He embraced Gandhi’s cause and devoted himself to the so-called tribal populations of Central India (1932-42). He abandoned the Church for literature and then anthropology, publishing many books. After ethnographic surveys in Orissa (1943-46), he was appointed Deputy Director of the Anthropological Survey of India (1947-49), then “tribal affairs adviser” to Nehru for the North-East Frontier Agency (1954-64), advocating an administration that respected tribal specificities.

« Verrier Elwin, du missionnaire gandhien à l’ethnopoète philanthropologue (1928-1939) »

Raphaël Rousseleau, 2019

Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) est connu parmi les indianistes comme l’auteur de nombreuses monographies sur les « tribus » de l’Inde ou adivasi. Il est lui-même revenu sur son parcours atypique à plusieurs reprises, en se définissant comme un « philanthropologue ». Le mot résume en effet bien sa (…)

Elwin, Verrier (1902-1964)

« Verrier Elwin, du missionnaire gandhien à l’ethnopoète philanthropologue (1928-1939) »

Missionary Anthropology

India – History of Anthropology in India

Lewis Sydney Steward O’Malley (1874-1941)