John Ferguson McLennan

John Ferguson McLennan

Infobox Scientist
name = PAGENAME
box_width =


image_size =150px
caption = PAGENAME
birth_date = October 14, 1827
birth_place = Inverness
death_date = June 16, 1881
death_place =
residence =
citizenship =
nationality = Scottish
ethnicity =
field = ethnology
work_institutions =
alma_mater =
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for =
author_abbrev_bot =
author_abbrev_zoo =
influences =
influenced =
prizes =
religion =
footnotes =

John Ferguson McLennan (October 14, 1827 - June 16, 1881), Scottish ethnologist, was born at Inverness.

He studied at King's College, Aberdeen, where he graduated with distinction in 1849, thence proceeding to Cambridge, where he remained till 1855 without taking a degree. He was called to the Scottish bar in 1857, and in 1871 was appointed parliamentary draughtsman for Scotland.

In 1865 he published "Primitive Marriage", in which, arguing from the prevalence of the symbolical form of capture in the marriage ceremonies of primitive races, he developed an intelligible picture of the growth of the marriage relation and of systems of kinship according to natural laws. In 1866 he wrote in the "Fortnightly Review" (April and May) an essay on "Kinship in Ancient Greece", in which he proposed to test by early "Greeli" facts the theory of the history of kinship set forth in "Primitive Marriage"; and three years later appeared a series of essays on Totemism in the same periodical for 1869-1870 (the germ of which had been contained in the paper just named), which mark the second great step in his systematic study of early society.

A reprint of "Primitive Marriage", with "Kinship in Ancient Greece" and some other essays not previously published, appeared in 1876, under the title of "Studies in Ancient History". The new essays in this volume were mostly critical, but one of them, in which perhaps his guessing talent is seen at its best "The Divisions of the Irish Family", is an elaborate discussion of a problem which has long puzzled both Celtic scholars and jurists; and in another, "On the Classificatory System of Relationship", he propounded a new explanation of a series of facts which, he thought, might throw light upon the early history of society, at the same time putting to the test of those facts the theories he had set forth in "Primitive Marriage". A "Paper on The Levirate and Polyandry", following up the line of his previous investigations ("Fortnightly Review", 1877), were the last work he was able to publish. He died of consumption on the 14th of June 1881 at Hayes Common, Kent.

Besides the works already cited, McLennan wrote a "Life of Thomas Drummond" (1867). The vast materials which he had accumulated on kinship were edited by his widow and Arthur Platt, under the title "Studies in Ancient history: Second Series" (1896).----


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Ferguson McLennan — (Inverness, Escocia, 14 de octubre de 1827 16 de junio de 1881) fue un antropólogo británico. Contenido 1 Biografía 2 Obra 3 Notas …   Wikipedia Español

  • McLennan, John Ferguson — ▪ Scottish lawyer and ethnologist born Oct. 14, 1827, Inverness, Inverness shire, Scot. died June 16, 1881, Hayes Common, Kent, Eng.       Scottish lawyer and ethnologist whose ideas on cultural evolution, kinship, and the origins of religion… …   Universalium

  • McLennan — McLennan, MacLennan or Maclennan is a Scottish surname. It may refer to: People Angus McLennan (1844–1908), Canadian politician Azlan McLennan (1975–), Australian artist Danny McLennan (1925–2004), Scottish football player and manager Donald R.… …   Wikipedia

  • McLennan — ist der Name folgender Personen: Gordon McLennan (1924–2011), britischer Politiker Grant McLennan (1958–2006), australischer Musiker Jamie McLennan (* 1971), ehemaliger kanadischer Eishockeytorwart John McLennan (1821–1893), kanadischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • MCLENNAN (J. F.) — MCLENNAN JOHN FERGUSON (1827 1881) Ethnologue anglais célèbre pour ses travaux sur la parenté. Juriste de formation, McLennan fut inscrit au barreau en 1857 et siégea au Parlement comme représentant de l’Écosse. L’essentiel de son œuvre a été… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • kinship — /kin ship/, n. 1. the state or fact of being of kin; family relationship. 2. relationship by nature, qualities, etc.; affinity. [1825 35; KIN + SHIP] Syn. 1. See relationship. 1, 2. connection. 2. bearing. * * * Socially recognized relationship… …   Universalium

  • anthropology — anthropological /an threuh peuh loj i keuhl/, anthropologic, adj. anthropologically, adv. /an threuh pol euh jee/, n. 1. the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs… …   Universalium

  • totemism — totemistic, adj. /toh teuh miz euhm/, n. 1. the practice of having totems. 2. the system of tribal division according to totems. [1785 95, Amer.; TOTEM + ISM] * * * Complex of ideas and practices based on the belief in kinship or mystical… …   Universalium

  • Antropología del parentesco — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Uno de los aportes de la antropología del parentesco radica en haber puesto sobre la mesa el hecho de que los lazos de parentesco son un producto cultural que no necesariamente pasa por la consanguinidad. En la… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Infanticide — is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an infant. Often it is the mother who commits the act, but criminology recognises various forms of non maternal child murder. In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”