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Paul Rivet | |
|---|---|
 Paul Rivet in 1938 | |
| Born | 7 May 1876 |
| Died | 21 March 1958(1958-03-21) (aged 81) |
| Known for | Musée de l'Homme Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes |
| Spouse | Mercedes Andrade Chiriboga |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ethnology |
Paul Rivet (French:[pɔlʁivɛ]; 7 May 1876 – 21 March 1958) was aFrenchethnologist known for founding theMusée de l'Homme in 1937. In his professional work, Rivet is known for his theory thatSouth America was originally populated in part by migrants who sailed there fromAustralia andMelanesia. He married Mercedes Andrade Chiriboga, who was fromCuenca,Ecuador.
Paul Rivet was born inWasigny,Ardennes in 1876. He attended local schools and university, studying to be a physician.
Trained as a physician, in 1901 he took part in the SecondFrench Geodesic Mission for survey measurements of the length of ameridian arc toEcuador. He remained for five years in South America, where he was mentored byFederico González Suárez, an Ecuadorian bishop, historian andarchaeologist. Rivet became interested in theindigenous peoples, beginning an ethnographic study of theHuaorani people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, then known as the Jívaro. While in Ecuador he collected specimens of amphibians and reptiles.[1] Returning to France, Rivet went to work with theMuséum national d'histoire naturelle, directed byRené Verneau.
He published several papers on his Ecuadorian research, before publishing an extended volume co-authored with René Verneau, titledAncient Ethnography of Ecuador (1921-1922). In 1926, Rivet participated in founding the Institut d'ethnologie inParis, together withMarcel Mauss andLucien Lévy-Bruhl. They intended it as a collaboration among the fields of philosophy, ethnology and sociology. He taught many French ethnologists, includingGeorge Devereux. In 1928, he succeeded René Verneau as director of the National Museum of Natural History.
He continued to develop institutions for the study of mankind. In 1937, he founded theMusée de l'Homme in Paris, which became renowned for its ethnographic research and collections.
In 1942, following Nazi occupation of Paris, Rivet was ousted from his position at the museum. He went to the US whereFranz Boas tried to help him along with other academicians displaced by the Nazis. On knowing that the Germans were failing to scientifically prove racial difference and superiority, Boas said, "We should never stop repeating the idea that racism is a monstrous error and an imprudent lie." This exchange took place at a luncheon organised by Boas at the Columbia Faculty Club in honor of Rivet.[2] Beginning his stint inColumbia University from 1942, Rivet founded the Anthropological Institute and Museum.
Returning to Paris in 1945, he continued teaching while carrying on his research. His linguistic research introduced several new perspectives on theAymara andQuechua languages of South America.
Rivet also became involved in politics, alarmed at the rise offascism in Europe during the 1930s. During the6 February 1934 crisis, he was one of the founders of theComité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of massive riots in Paris. Rivet was a leader in the French Resistance to Nazi occupation. He narrowly escaped arrest and execution by the Nazis. Several of his colleagues, includingAnatole Lewitsky andBoris Vilde were shot.
Rivet is well known for his classification of South American languages. He proposed 77 language families and about 1240 languages and dialects.[3] Much of his work on language classification was later incorporated byJohn Alden Mason and his former studentČestmír Loukotka.[4]
Rivet's theory asserts thatAsia was the origin of theIndigenous people of the Americas. However, he also suggested that migrations to South America were made fromAustralia some 6,000 years before, and fromMelanesia somewhat later.Les Origines de l'Homme Américain ("The Origins of the American Man") was published in 1943, and containslinguistic and anthropological arguments to support his thesis.
Rivet is commemorated in the scientific names of the South American snakeLeptophis riveti[1] and frogPristimantis riveti.[5]
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