Franz Boas

Lore & Background

Franz Boas was born on July 9, 1858, in Minden, Westphalia, to Sophie Meyer and Meier Boas. His grandparents were observant Jews, but his parents embraced Enlightenment values and rejected dogma. An important early influence was his mother's brother-in-law, Abraham Jacobi. Boas studied at Heidelberg University, Bonn University, and the University of Kiel, where he was awarded a doctorate in physics in 1881, while also studying geography. His dissertation examined the optical properties of water. After his doctorate, he participated in a geographical expedition to northern Canada, where he became fascinated with the culture and language of the Baffin Island Inuit. He later conducted fieldwork with indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest. In 1887, he emigrated to the United States, working first as a museum curator at the Smithsonian, and in 1899 became a professor of anthropology at Columbia University, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Reader's Guide

Franz Boas profoundly influenced the development of American anthropology through his students, many of whom founded anthropology departments and research programmes. Among his significant students were A. L. Kroeber, Alexander Goldenweiser, Ruth Benedict, Edward Sapir, Margaret Mead, Zora Neale Hurston, and Gilberto Freyre. Boas was a prominent opponent of scientific racism. In groundbreaking studies of skeletal anatomy, he showed that cranial shape and size were malleable depending on environmental factors such as health and nutrition, contradicting claims that head shape was a stable racial trait. He argued that differences in human behavior are largely the result of cultural differences acquired through social learning, not innate biological dispositions. Boas rejected evolutionary approaches that ranked cultures hierarchically, instead arguing that culture develops historically through interactions and diffusion of ideas. He promoted cultural relativism, the idea that cultures cannot be objectively ranked. By uniting archaeology, physical anthropology, ethnology, and descriptive linguistics, he created the four-field subdivision of anthropology.

Did You Know?

• Boas was awarded a doctorate in physics in 1881, but also studied geography and later self-identified as a geographer.
• He was one of the most prominent opponents of scientific racism, demonstrating that cranial shape is influenced by environment, not race.
• His students included Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Edward Sapir, and Zora Neale Hurston.
• Boas created the four-field subdivision of anthropology, uniting archaeology, physical anthropology, ethnology, and descriptive linguistics.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 22, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology"." — Franz Boas "Eugenics, in The Scientific Monthly, J. McKeen Cattell, ed., Vol. 3, No. 5,(November, 1916)[1][2]." — Franz Boas "Boas (1928) in foreword to Margaret Mead (1928) Coming of Age in Samoa." — Franz Boas "Franz Boas (1975) Facial paintings of the Indians of northern British Columbia. p. 4." — Franz Boas