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Ruth Benedict

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Ruth Benedict

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Also known as Ruth Fulton Benedict

American anthropologist and folklorologist (1887-1948)

AI overview

Ruth Benedict was an American anthropologist and folklorologist who studied different cultures and their customs during the early-to-mid 20th century. Her work helped establish how people's beliefs and behaviors are shaped by their culture rather than being determined by nature, which became an influential idea in understanding human societies.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Ruth
Gender
female
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
New York City
Place of death
New York City
Occupation
writer
Educated at
The New School
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Academic degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctoral advisor
Franz Boas
Student of
Franz Boas
Field of work
social anthropology
Image
Ruth Benedict.jpg
Residence
New York City
Show 16 more facts
date of birth
1887-07-05
date of death
1948-09-17
birth name
Ruth Fulton
pseudonym
Anne Singleton
name
Ruth Benedict
name in native language
Ruth Benedict
cause of death
myocardial infarction
manner of death
natural causes
Commons category
Ruth Benedict
medical condition
deafness
writing language
English language
unmarried partner
Margaret Mead
sexual orientation
bisexuality
Sources (8)

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Encyclopedic overview

Ruth Fulton Benedict (June 5, 1887 – September 17, 1948) was an American anthropologist and folklorist.

She was born in New York City, attended Vassar College, and graduated in 1909. After studying anthropology at the New School of Social Research under Elsie Clews Parsons, she entered graduate studies at Columbia University in 1921, where she studied under Franz Boas. She received her Ph.D. and joined the faculty in 1923. Margaret Mead, with whom she shared a romantic relationship, Marvin Opler, Ruth Landes, and Vera D. Rubin were among her students and colleagues.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ruth Benedict” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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