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Rodney Needham (15 May 1923 – 4 December 2006 inOxford) was an Englishsocial anthropologist.
BornRodney Phillip Needham Green, he changed his name in 1947; the following year he married Maud Claudia (Ruth) Brysz.[1][2] The couple would collaborate on several works, including an English translation of Robert Hertz'sDeath and the Right Hand.[3][4]
Hisfieldwork was with thePenan ofBorneo (1951-2) and the Siwang ofMalaysia (1953-5).[2] Hisdoctoral thesis on the Penan was accepted in 1953.[5] He was University Lecturer in Social Anthropology,Oxford University, 1956–76;[4] Professor of Social Anthropology, Oxford, 1976–90; Official Fellow,Merton College, Oxford, 1971–75; and Fellow,All Souls College, Oxford, 1976-90.[1][2]
Together withEdmund Leach andMary Douglas, Needham broughtstructuralism from France and anglicised it in the process. A prolific scholar, he was also a teacher and a rediscoverer of neglected figures in the history of his discipline, such asArnold Van Gennep andRobert Hertz.
Among other things, he contributed to the study offamily resemblance, introducing the terms "monothetic" and "polythetic" into anthropology.
He had two children, one of whom,Tristan, became a professor of mathematics.
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