Franz Boas

Franz Boas is considered both the founder of modern anthropology as well as the father of American Anthropology. It was Boas who gave modern anthropology its rigorous scientific methodology, patterned after the natural sciences, and it was Boas who originated the notion of "culture" as learned behaviors. His emphasis on research first, followed by generalizations, stood in marked contrast to the British school of anthropology which emphasized the creation of grand theories (which were only after tested through field work). As a teacher, principally at Columbia University, he served as mentor to many of the top names in American anthropology, including such luminaries as Alfred Kroeber,Ruth Benedict, Maragret Mead, Robert Lowie, and Edward Sapir. Many of these went on to found, or profoundly influence, departments of anthropology at other universities. Boas further extended his influence through such important works as The Mind of Primitive Man (1911), Anthropology and Modern Life (1928), and Kwakiutl Ethnography (1966).Franz Boas was born in Minden, Germany on July 9, 1858. His liberal Jewish parents' held a disdain for dogma, religious or otherwise. And as a result Boas was allowed to think for himself and pursue his own interests unhindered. He was attracted to nature and to the natural sciences at an early age, collecting specimens such as minerals and seashells. As an older youth in gymnasium he engaged in more structured studies and experiments, in his free time assembling and studying the skeletons of various small animals. His subsequent university education was eclectic, with stints at Heidelberg, Bonn, and Kiel, as he delved into mathematics, physics, as well as geography. He earned his Ph.D. in geography in 1881, at Kiel. He planned and undertook a geographic expedition to the arctic (1883-84). Yet once there, he became fascinated the people, with their appearance, their language, and of course their way of life and traditions. After returning from his journey he decided to make anthropology his life work.