- Jan Vansina
Jan Vansina (b.
Antwerp ,Belgium ,September 14 ,1929 ) is a historian and anthropologist specializing in Africa. He is the foremost authority on the history of the peoples ofCentral Africa .Biography
Vansina was first trained as a
medievalist and ethnographer but became known as one of the most prominent Africanist scholars. In his work, he focuses on the history of African societies prior to European contact, and is widely regarded as the foremost authority on the history of the peoples ofCentral Africa . He has published widely on the subject.Vansina obtained his doctorate in history from the
Catholic University of Leuven in 1957. He is a professor emeritus at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison and lives inMadison, Wisconsin .Vansina assisted
Alex Haley (the author of the 1976 novel "") in deciphering several African words that had been handed down from Haley's ancestors, determining that they were of Mandinka origin. [http://www.everygeneration.co.uk/Roots/searching_for_roots2.htm]Perhaps coincidentally,
Robert Ludlum 's 2000 spy novel "The Prometheus Deception " features a character named Jan Vansina.References
*Vansina, Jan (1965). "Oral Tradition. A Study in Historical Methodology" (Translated from the French by H. M. Wright). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
*Vansina, Jan (1966). "Kingdoms of the Savanna". Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
*Vansina, Jan (1985). "Oral Tradition as History". Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
*Vansina, Jan (1990). "Paths in the Rainforest". Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.
*Vansina, Jan (1994). "Living With Africa". Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.
*Vansina, Jan (2004). "Antecedents to Modern Rwanda: The Nyiginya Kingdom" (Translated from the French by the author). Africa and the Diaspora series. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
*Vansina, Jan (2004). "How Societies Are Born: Governance in West Central Africa Before 1600". Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press.External links
* [http://www.h-net.org/~africa/africaforum/VansinaInterview.htm "History Facing the Present: An Interview with Jan Vansina"] , by Karel Arnaut and Hein Vanhee (November 1, 2001)
* [http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~africa/africaforum/Vellut.htm "Jan Vansina on the Belgian Historiography of Africa: Around the Agenda of a Bombing Raid] , by Jean-Luc Vellut
* [http://www.jstor.org/view/00141801/ap020157/02a00040/0 Interview with Jan Vansina] , Spring 1994 (requires registration)
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