Adam Kuper facts for kids

Adam Jonathan Kuper (born 29 December 1941) is a British social anthropologist. An anthropologist is a scientist who studies human societies and cultures.

About Adam Kuper

Adam Kuper was born in Johannesburg, which was then part of the Union of South Africa. His parents were Simon Meyer Kuper and Gertrude Hesselson. He went to Parktown Boys' High School and later studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

His Studies and Early Work

Adam Kuper earned his advanced degree from the University of Cambridge. For his studies, he did research in the Kalahari Desert in what is now Botswana. After finishing his degree, he continued to do field studies in Botswana and also in Jamaica.

He taught at universities in several countries, including Uganda, Britain, Holland, Sweden, and the United States. His uncle and aunt, Leo Kuper and Hilda Kuper, were also well-known social scientists.

Teaching and Awards

In 1966, Adam Kuper married Jessica Cohen. From 1967 to 1970, he taught at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He then taught at University College London from 1970 to 1976.

From 1976 to 1985, he was a professor of African anthropology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He then became a professor at Brunel University from 1985 to 2008. At Brunel, he helped start the Department of Human Sciences and later led the Anthropology Department.

Adam Kuper received important awards for his work. In 2000, he was given the Rivers Memorial Medal. In 2007, he received the Huxley Memorial Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute. He was also the first president of the European Association of Social Anthropology. He has been a visiting professor at Boston University and the London School of Economics. He has lived in Muswell Hill for over 40 years.

What Adam Kuper Studied

In the early 1970s, Adam Kuper worked in Jamaica. He helped the National Planning Agency in the Prime Minister's Office. However, his main focus was studying societies in Southern Africa. He wrote several books about these societies.

History of Anthropology

In 1973, he published a book about the history of British social anthropology. He continued to study and write about the history of anthropology as a field. This included looking at old ideas about "primitive society" and "culture." He also studied how museums of anthropology developed over time.

He received a special grant from Leverhulme that allowed him to spend more time on his research from 2003 to 2005. During this time, he studied topics like cousin marriage in 19th-century England.

Adam Kuper also guided many students who were working on their PhDs. These students studied topics like Southern African cultures, the history of anthropology, family businesses, and kinship (family relationships).

Books by Adam Kuper

• Wives for Cattle: Bridewealth and Marriage in Southern Africa, (Routledge, 1982)
• The Invention of primitive society: Transformations of an Illusion, (Routledge, 1988)
• The Chosen Primate: Human Nature and Cultural Diversity, (Harvard University Press, 1994)
• Anthropology and Anthropologists: The Modern British School, (Routledge, 3rd edn, 1996)
• The Social Science Encyclopaedia Adam Kuper, Jessica Kuper (eds.). (Taylor & Francis, 1996)
• Culture: The Anthropologists' Account, (Harvard University Press, 1999)
• ... and Influence: The Private Life of Bourgeois England, (Harvard, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-674-03589-8)
• The Museum of Other People. From Colonial Acquisitions to Cosmopolitan Exhibitions, (Profile Books, 2023, ISBN: 978-1-800810-91-4)