EVANS-PRITCHARD, Edward Evan (1902-1973):
British ANTHROPOLOGIST who, along with
Raymond FIRTH, trained under Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski (1884-1942). His first book Witchcraft,
Oracles and Magic, Amongst the Azande (1937) is a masterpiece which demonstrates the
inner coherence of seemingly IRRATIONAL BELIEF systems. Its publication led to a bitter
dispute with Malinowski who disassociated himself from Evans-Pritchard's views and
attempted to prevent him from obtaining an academic post. Evans-Pritchard's CONVERSION to
CATHOLICISM in 1944 further raised the ire of the academic community but with the help of
RADCLIFFE-BROWN, he obtained the Chair of SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY at the University of Oxford
in 1946 from where he went on to establish the influential Oxford School of Social
Anthropology.
