Monica Wilson

Monica N. Wilson (born January 3, 1908 in Lovedale; died October 26, 1982 in Hogsback ), née Hunter , was a South African anthropologist and university professor.

Life

Monica Hunter was born into a family of missionaries from Scotland . Her educational path led through Lovedale College to study anthropology at the University of Cambridge . After her return to her home region, she dealt with sociological field research, from which her work Reaction to Conquest (1936) emerged. This work grew into a hotly debated challenge compared to the previously widespread perceptions about indigenous societies in the Cape, which were previously considered traditionally static groups. She later taught at Fort Hare (1944-1946), from 1946 at Rhodes University and later in Cape Town. In Fort Hare she was also responsible for the women's hostel and at Rhodes University she held the chair of social anthropology. In these functions she influenced not only young black anthropology students, but also ANC members such as Godfrey Pitje (former employee of Mandela & Tambo , Johannesburg, ANCYL executive) and Livingstone Mqotsi ( social anthropologist , lecturer, psychologist, NEUM member). In the course of the university lectures she debunked many myths that served to justify the “white supremacy” in the country. Her reputation as an "intellectual hero", which was already widespread during her lifetime, was based on her strong influence among the Xhosa and the generous personal hospitality, during which picnics were held for black students on her farm estate in Hogsback , although the ban here was "Whites only" (" Whites only ”) also applied.

She was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town and the first woman to receive this academic title in South Africa. In the academic field, she was considered a specialist in the Nyakyusa people . She conducted research with the Pondo on the reactions to the European conquest in South Africa. Together with the historian Leonard Thompson (1916-2004) she edited the Oxford History of South Africa .

In 1980 she was named a corresponding member of the British Academy .

gallery

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  Monica Wilson's estate in Hogsback

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  Library

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  Library

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  Pond (hogsback)

Publications

• Reaction to Conquest: Effects of Contact with European on the Pondo of South Africa. With an Introduction by General the Right Hon, JC Smuts. 2d Ed. Oxford University Press , 1964.
• The Analysis of Social Change. CUP Archives, 1945, with Godfrey Wilson
• Good Company. A Study of Nyakyusa Age-Villages. London, 1951.
• Rituals of kinship among the Nyakyusa. Oxford University Press, London, New York, 1957.
• (Ed.) The Oxford History of South Africa. Clarendon Press, 1971. (with Leonard Thompson)
• For men and elders: change in the relations of generations and of men and women among the Nyakyusa - Ngonde people 1875–1971. Holmes & Meier, 1977.

See also

• The Oxford History of South Africa (English)
• Nyakyusa
• Pondo (English)
• Hogsback Gardens

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Alexander Kerr : Fort Hare 1915-48. The Evolution of an African College . C. Hurst & Co. , London 1968, p. 277
2. ↑ ^{a b} Luvuyo Wotshela: Fort Hare. From Garrison to Bastion of Learning - 1916–2016 . UFH & KMM, Sandton, Alice, 2017, p. 97. ISBN 978-0-9922329-8-6
3. ↑ Alexander Kerr : Fort Hare 1915-48. The Evolution of an African College . C. Hurst & Co. , London 1968, p. 253
4. ↑ sahistory.org.za: Monica Hunter Wilson - accessed April 10, 2019
5. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed August 21, 2020 . 
6. ↑ JISC: bibliographic evidence (English)

literature

• Sean Morrow: The Fires Beneath: The Life of Monica Wilson, South African Anthropologist. Penguin, 2016. ISBN 978-1-77609-039-6 .
• Michael G. Whisson, Martin West (Eds.): Religion and Social Change in Southern Africa: Anthropological Essays in Honor of Monica Wilson. David Philip, Cape Town, 1975, ISBN 978-0-949968-44-9
• Obituary: Professor of anthropology, The Guardian , October 27, 1982

Web links

• Monica Hunter Wilson