E. E. Evans-Pritchard
English anthropologist who studied Azande and Nuer peoples.
Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973) was an English anthropologist central to the development of social anthropology. Educated at Winchester College and Exeter College, Oxford, where R. R. Marett influenced him, he completed postgraduate work at the London School of Economics under Bronisław Malinowski and especially Charles Gabriel Seligman. His doctoral thesis, completed in 1927, examined the social organization of the Azande of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Beginning fieldwork with the Azande in 1926, he produced the classic *Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande* (1937), a foundational contribution to the sociology of knowledge. This work took a neutral stance on Zande beliefs about causation, focusing on psychological attribution—notably how the Azande blamed witchcraft for mishaps such as the collapse of a termite-infested door frame that killed eight people. His empirical studies later figured in philosophy of science debates involving Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend. From 1930, he researched the Nuer, leading to a trilogy: *The Nuer* (1940), *Kinship and Marriage Among the Nuer* (1951), and *Nuer Religion* (1956). With Meyer Fortes, he coedited *African Political Systems* (1940), developing Radcliffe-Brown’s structural-functionalism. During the Second World War, he served in Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan, and Syria, raising irregular Anuak troops in Sudan and later producing *The Sanusi of Cyrenaica* from his experience in North Africa. Appointed Professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford in 1946, he remained at All Souls College for his career. In 1950, he famously argued anthropology should be grouped among the humanities, not natural sciences, emphasizing translation between cultures. His 1965 *Theories of Primitive Religion* critiqued existing theories, noting that believers and non-believers approached religious study differently. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1944 and had five children with his wife Ioma, including journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
- field
- Social anthropology
- nationality
- English
- known_for
- Studies of Azande and Nuer; structural-functionalism; argument that anthropology
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
- Birth Date
- 1902-09-21
- Birth Place
- Crowborough, East Sussex, England
- Death Date
- 1973-09-11
- Death Place
- Oxford, England
- Field
- Anthropology
- Thesis Title
- The social organisation of the Azande of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
- Known For
- Evans-Pritchard's theories of religion / Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
- Children
- Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
- Thesis Url
- http: · etheses.lse.ac.uk/102
- Thesis Year
- 1928
- Notable Students
- M. N. Srinivas / Talal Asad / Mary Douglas / Audrey Colson / John Francis Marchment Middleton / Steven Lukes / André Singer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard was an English anthropologist who played a key role in shaping social anthropology. He was born in Crowborough, East Sussex, the son of an Anglican cleric, and later converted to Roman Catholicism. He was educated at Winchester College and studied history at Exeter College, Oxford, where he was influenced by R. R. Marett. He completed his postgraduate work at the London School of Economics under Bronisław Malinowski and Charles Gabriel Seligman. His first fieldwork, beginning in 1926, was among the Azande of the upper Nile, resulting in his doctorate and the classic work *Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande*. This study is noted for its neutral stance on Zande beliefs about causation, documenting how they attributed mishaps, such as deaths from a collapsing termite-infested door frame, to witchcraft. He later conducted extensive research among the Nuer, producing a trilogy of works including *The Nuer*, *Kinship and Marriage Among the Nuer*, and *Nuer Religion*, which became classics of British social anthropology. During the Second World War, he served in Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan, and Syria, raising irregular troops among the Anuak. After the war, he became Professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College. In his later theoretical work, he argued that anthropology should be grouped among the humanities rather than the natural sciences, emphasizing that its central challenge is translation—understanding another culture and explaining it back to one’s own. He also critiqued existing theories of primitive religion, noting that anthropologists often projected their own cultural motivations onto the people they studied.
Reader's Guide
Evans-Pritchard's significance lies in his foundational contributions to social anthropology through detailed ethnographic fieldwork and theoretical innovation. His study of Azande witchcraft, oracles, and magic is considered the first major anthropological contribution to the sociology of knowledge, taking a neutral—some would say relativist—stance on the correctness of Zande beliefs about causation. His work on the Nuer, developed alongside Meyer Fortes and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, became classics of British social anthropology and helped establish structural-functionalism. His co-edited volume *African Political Systems* (1940) was also seminal. Later in his career, his argument that anthropology is a humanity rather than a natural science influenced the discipline's self-understanding.
Did You Know?
- Evans-Pritchard was known to friends and family as 'EP'.
- He raised irregular troops among the Anuak during the Second World War.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is E. E. Evans-Pritchard?
Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard was a British social anthropologist born in East Sussex in 1902 who spent the bulk of his academic career at Oxford. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in shaping the discipline of social anthropology during the twentieth century.
What are Evans-Pritchard's most famous field studies?
He is best known for his detailed ethnographic work among the Nuer of southern Sudan and the Azande of the Upper Nile region. These two monographs became foundational texts for how anthropologists examine kinship, political organization, and indigenous belief systems.
What was Evans-Pritchard's major theoretical argument?
He pushed back firmly against the notion that anthropology should be classified alongside the natural sciences such as biology or chemistry. He contended that the discipline belongs among the humanities because it deals with meaning, interpretation, and cultural context rather than universal natural laws.
Where did Evans-Pritchard hold his professorship?
He was appointed Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford in 1946 and held that chair until 1970. He passed away in Oxford just three years after stepping down from the position.
Why do anthropology fans still discuss Evans-Pritchard?
His structural-functionalist approach to understanding societies, paired with his insistence that anthropology is interpretive rather than purely empirical, set the stage for decades of methodological debate in the field. Even scholars who rejected his functionalist assumptions had to grapple with the analytical frameworks he established.
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