Paul Wirz

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Paul Wirz (born May 29, 1892 in Moscow , Russian Empire ; † January 30, 1955 in Ulopu , New Guinea ) was a Swiss ethnologist .

Life

Wirz was the son of the manufacturer Jakob Wirz . He attended schools in Moscow and Zurich. He trained as a technical teacher at the ETH Zurich . He studied ethnology in Zurich and Basel and graduated in 1920 as Dr. phil. from. His dissertation on the Marind-anim people in New Guinea has already become a standard work in ethnology.

He explored the mythical world of the Marind-anim in the south of Dutch New Guinea ( Western New Guinea ). He also devoted research to the Sentani and Gogodara .

Wirz took part in the second part of the Dutch Central New Guinea Expedition , the anthropological and ethnographic results of which he published between 1924 and 1934.

His main work was of great influence on the late work La Mythologie primitive by the French philosopher Lucien Lévy-Bruhl , which in turn influenced Elias Canetti's ideas about the transformation in his main philosophical work Mass and Power .

Paul Wirz donated his rich ethnographic collections mainly to the Museum der Kulturen Basel and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam.

Works

  • The Marind-anim of Dutch South New Guinea. Friederichsen, Hamburg 1922–1925.
    • Vol. 1, part 1: The material culture of the Marind-anim. 1922.
    • Vol. 1, Part 2: The religious ideas and the myths of the Marind-anim, as well as the formation of the totemistic-social groupings. 1922.
    • Vol. 2, part 3: The social life of the Marind-anim. 1925.
    • Vol. 2, part 4: The Marind-anim in their festivals, their art and their knowledge and characteristics. 1925.
  • Ethnography. 4 parts (in 1 vol.). With 49 tls. color plates. as well as Fig. u. Map sketches in the text. Leiden, Brill, 1924-1934. 499 p. 4 °. Nova Guinea. Résultats des expéditions scientifiques à la Nouvelle Guinée; publ. sous la dir. de LF de Beaufort, vol. 16.
    • Part 1: Anthropological and ethnological results of the Central New Guinea Expedition, 1921–1922.
    • Part 2: Investigations on skulls and skeletal parts from the area of ​​the Humboldt Bay and the southern coastal area of ​​Dutch New Guinea.
    • Part 3: Contribution to the ethnology of the Sentanians (Dutch New Guinea).
    • Part 4: The Gogodara Community.
  • The cult of the dead in Bali. Strecker &. Schröder, Stuttgart 1928.
  • Demons and savages in New Guinea. Stuttgart 1928.
  • Rice growing and the cults of rice growing in Bali and Lombok. Leiden 1929.
  • With lovable savages in New Guinea. Strecker &. Schröder, Stuttgart 1929.
  • Nias the island of idols; Pictures from the western island of the island. Schaubücher 29. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1929.
  • Wilderness and freedom. From the diary of a world vagrant. Strecker &. Schröder, Stuttgart 1933.
  • Exorcism and medicine in Ceylon. Huber, Bern 1941.
  • Hermit on Taprobane. Story of three islands. Bern, Huber 1942.
  • Weltvagant in the jungle and on the savannah. (Illustr.) Universum Verlag, Zurich 1953.
  • The Ainu. Dying people in the Far East. Reinhardt, Munich, Basel 1954.
  • Kataragama, the holiest site in Ceylon. Birkhäuser, Basel 1954.

literature

Movies

  • Renatus Zürcher: The Wild White One. (Cinema documentary, 80 min, German / English) 2007 - producer: Uri W. Urech.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wirz, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 1955
Place of death Ulopu , New Guinea