John Layard

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John Willoughby Layard (27 November 1891–26 November 1974) was an English anthropologist and psychologist.

Layard was born in London. He was educated at Bedales School and King's College, Cambridge, from which he gained a degree in modern languages. At Cambridge he became interested in anthropology. In 1914 he accompanied W. H. R. Rivers, one of the leading anthropologists of the day, on an expedition to the New Hebrides and spent a year conducting intensive fieldwork on the island of Atchin.

On his return to England, Layard was mentally exhausted and began to take a course of psychotherapy, eventually becoming a therapist himself. He later returned to anthropology, producing in 1942 his magnum opus, Stone Men of Malekula, concerning another island in the New Hebrides.

[edit] Reference

• Dictionary of National Biography