David Mayberry-Lewis (1929-2007)

Posted on by

Just got this in my mailbox…


Dear Colleagues,

It is with great sadness that I must report the death of David Maybury-Lewis on December 2, 2008. David Maybury-Lewis was the Edward C. Henderson Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.

David was an eminent scholar of Amazonia, an enthusiastic teacher and mentor to generations of students, and an untiring advocate for indigenous peoples around the world. In 1972 he founded Cultural Survival, an international organization to support and promote the voices and rights of indigenous groups. He received his Ph.D. from Oxford in 1956, joined the Harvard faculty in 1960, and served several terms as Chair of the Department of Anthropology between 1971 and 1981.

The family has not yet announced plans for a funeral and memorial service. As soon as further details are available, I will distribute them.

Please join me in extending condolences to David’s family in this time of bereavement.

Sincerely,

Ted Bestor

Professor/Chair

Department of Anthropology

Harvard University

One thought on “David Mayberry-Lewis (1929-2007)”

  1. Oh, huh, I took a course at nerd camp years ago (‘99?) on the topic of Cultural Survival; a Prof. Monaghan (or one of the million spellings of that name) taught it and drew heavily on Prof. Maybury-Lewis’s work. That dude managed to help get a room full of 16-year-old suburban kids concerned about indigenous peoples, and for that feat alone he will be missed.

    It seems like the issue of indigenous cultures surviving in the face of globalism has been stuck on the back burner again; I remember it being a major issue in the Clinton years, but that was before war, scandal, corruption, 9-11, crying eagles, etc.

Leave a Reply