Bronislaw Malinowski

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (Polish: Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, April 7, 1884 – May 16, 1942) was a Polish social anthropologist. In 1908, he submitted his doctoral thesis in Philosophy, Physics, and Mathematics at the University of Krakow. In 1913, he became a lecturer at the London School of Economics, where he received his doctorate in science in 1916. During this period, he studied James Frazer's "The Golden Bough" and developed a keen interest in anthropology. Malinowski is credited as the founder of the field of social anthropology known as functionalism, which posits that all elements of a society are interwoven to form a balanced system. He placed particular emphasis on beliefs, rituals, customs, institutions, religion, ritual, and sexual taboos. Throughout his life, he held significant positions at academic institutions such as Cornell University, Yale University, the University of London, and Harvard University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. He was multilingual, speaking Polish, Russian, German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, and several indigenous dialects. He passed away on May 14, 1942, in New Haven, Connecticut.