De Martino, Ernesto (1908-1965)

Trained in the history of religions, Italian anthropologist Ernesto De Martino (1908-1965) was the founder of a national tradition of European anthropology. From 1959 to 1965 he held the chair of the history of religions at the University of Cagliari (Sardinia). Introduced in France in the mid-1960s by Michel Leiris, Alfred Métraux and Georges Balandier, his work pursues the project of ethnology at home, based on the “ethnographic encounter” in a situation of inequality, violence and symbolic domination. In the mid-1980s, it was a major reference for the rebuilding of a regional domain at the Centre d’anthropologie des sociétés rurales, in Toulouse, France.

Keywords: History | Social and cultural anthropology | Translation | 20^th century | Italy | Folk mythology | Progressive folklore | Magico-religious practices | Christianity | Rituals | Psychopathology | Religious studies | Benedetto Croce | Raffaele Pettazzoni | Antonio Gramsci | Vittorio Lanternari