Kaberry, Phyllis (1910–1977)
Kaberry, Phyllis (1910–1977)
British social anthropologist. Born Phyllis Mary Kaberry in 1910 in California; grew up in Sydney, Australia; then moved to London, England; died 1977; dau. of an English architect; Sydney University, BA, 1933, MA, 1935; London School of Economics, PhD, 1939; never married.
Became 1st woman anthropologist to focus full attention on women's roles in Aboriginal Australia; published the classic, Aboriginal Woman (1930); served as research assistant at London School of Economics (1936–39); conducted fieldwork among the Abelam of Sepik River in New Guinea (1939–40); taught at Sydney University; conducted research on the Nso (Nsaw) women in the Cameroons (1940s); developed dominant interest in African anthropology; joined department of anthropology at University College London (late 1940s); also wrote Women of the Grassfields (1952).