Elliott Skinner

Elliott Percival Skinner (born June 20, 1924 in Port of Spain , Trinidad , † April 1, 2007 in Washington, DC ) was an American ethnologist , anthropologist and diplomat .

Life

Skinner came to the US in 1943 and joined the US Army a month later. He fought in France from 1943 to 1946 during World War II . In 1945 he became a US citizen. He first studied at the University of Neuchâtel , Switzerland ; In 1951 he graduated from New York University ; he received his Masters from Columbia University in 1952 and his Ph.D. 1955. He lived for two years in the West African state of Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso ) and learned the native language Moré from the Mossi tribe .

Skinner was a professor at New York's Columbia University from 1954 to 1994, from 1972 dean of the anthropological faculty. He was the first dean of an African-American faculty in US history. He has received numerous grants and research grants, for example from the Guggenheim Foundation , the Ford Foundation , the Social Science Research Council SSRC , the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and in 1987 the "Fulbright 40 Anniversary Distinguished Fellowship" ( Fulbright Program ) at the University of Abidjan in Abidjan on the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

From 1966 to 1969 he was ambassador to Upper Volta (today: Burkina Faso ) at the request of US President Lyndon B. Johnson , where he succeeded Thomas S. Estes . In 1968 he was honored by the President of the Republic of Upper Volta Sangoulé Lamizana with the award "Commandeur de l'Ordre National Voltaique". He was later a long-time Africa advisor to various US governments. He was chairman of the Association of Black American Ambassadors , a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Bridgeport , a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and, since 1976, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations .

Skinner is the author of twelve books, including well-known works such as “The Mossi of Upper Volta” (Stanford University Press, 1964) and “African-Americans and United States Policy Toward Africa 1850-1924: In Defense of African Nationality” (Howard University Press, 1992 ). Further works are "A Glorious Age in Africa", "African Urban Life: The Transformation of Ouagadougou" and "Roots of Time. A Portrait of African Life and Culture".

Skinner died in 2007 of complications from a heart attack; he was a second married to Gwendolyn Mikell, director of the Institute for African Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University .

Publications

• African Americans and US Policy Toward Africa, 1805-1924: In Defense of Black Nationality . Howard University Press, Washington DC, USA 1992, ISBN 0-88258-142-2 .

Web links

• Obituary Elliott Percival Skinner
• Obituary Elliott Percival Skinner (Columbia University)