Robert Briffault
Robert Stephen Briffault (1876 – 11 December 1948) was trained as a surgeon, but found fame as a social anthropologist and in later life as a novelist.
Biography
According to one source, Briffault was born in Nice, France.[1] According to others he was born in London,[2][3] though he spent time in France and elsewhere in Europe following his diplomat father.[3] After the death of his father, Briffault and his Scottish-born mother emigrated to New Zealand.
His first wife (m 1896) was Anna Clarke with whom he had three children. After her death he married Herma Hoyt (1898-1981), an American writer and translator.[1]
Briffault received his MB, ChB from the University of Dunedin in New Zealand and commenced medical practice.[1] After service on the Western Front during World War I (where he was awarded the Military Cross[3], he settled in England[1] where he turned to the study of sociology and anthropology.[4] He also lived for some time in the USA,[5] and later Paris.[3]
Briffault debated marriage with Bronisław Malinowski in the 1930s[6] and corresponded with Bertrand Russell.
He died in Hastings, Sussex, England on 11 December 1948.[1][7]
Asked how to pronounce his name, Briffault told The Literary Digest: "Should be pronounced bree'-foh, without attempting to give it a French pronunciation." [8]
Works
Non-Fiction
- The Making of Humanity (1919)
- Psyche's Lamp: a re-evaluation of psychological principles as a foundation of all thought (1921)
- The Mothers: A Study of the Origins of Sentiments and Institutions (1927)
- Rational Evolution (1930)
- Sin and Sex (1931)
- Breakdown: The Collapse of Traditional Civilization (1932)
- Reasons for Anger: selected essays (1937)
- The Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1938)
- Marriage Past and Present (1956) edited radio debate between Briffault and Bronislaw Malinowski, originall published as a series in The Listener
- Les Troubadours et le sentiment romanesque (1945) (in French)
- The Troubadours (1965) (revised translation of the above)
Fiction
- Europa: a novel of the days of ignorance (1935) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
- Europa in Limbo (1937)
- The Ambassadress (1939)
- Fandango (1940)
- New Life of Mr. Martin (1947)
References
- ^ a b c d e McMaster University Archives Briffault, Robert]
- ^ Funk & Wagnell's New Encyclopedia 2006
- ^ a b c d Time Sept 27, 1937 Book Review
- ^ Physician Writers A-C
- ^ Time Magazine July 18, 1932 People
- ^ Marriage Past and Present: A debate between Robert Briffault and Bronislaw Malinowski (1956) edited by Asley Montagu
- ^ American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1949),p 341
- ^ Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936
| Persondata |
| Name |
Briffault, Robert |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
1876 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
11 December 1948 |
| Place of death |
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