Hilda Kuper
| Hilda Kuper | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 23, 1911 Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia |
| Died | 1992 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nationality | Swazi (1970-1992) |
| Spouse(s) | Leo Kuper |
| Awards |
Rivers Memorial Medal (1961) Guggenheim Fellowship (1969) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater |
University of Witwatersrand London School of Economics |
| Thesis title | An African Aristocracy: Rank among the Swazi and The Uniform of Colour: a Study of White–Black Relationships in Swaziland (1947) |
| Doctoral advisor | Bronisław Malinowski |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Social anthropology |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Notable students | Dawn Chatty |
Hilda Beemer Kuper (née Beemer; 23 August 1911 – 1992) was a social anthropologist most notable for her extensive work on Swazi culture.
Born to Lithuanian Jewish and Austrian Jewish parents in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, Kuper moved to South Africa after the death of her father. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and, afterwards, at the London School of Economics under Malinowski.
In 1934, Kuper won a fellowship from the International African Institute to study in Swaziland. In July of that year, while at an education conference in Johannesburg, she met Sobhuza II, paramount chief and later king of Swaziland. With assistance from Sobhuza and Malinowski, Kuper moved to the royal village of Lobamba and was introduced to Sobhuza's mother, the queen mother Lomawa. Here Kuper learned siSwati and pursued her fieldwork. This phase of Kuper's researches into Swazi culture culminated in the two-part dissertation, An African Aristocracy: Rank among the Swazi (1947) and The Uniform of Colour: a Study of White–Black Relationships in Swaziland (1947).
In the early 1950s, Kuper moved to Durban. During that decade, she focused her studies on the Indian community in the Natal region, as summarised in Indian People in Natal (1960). In 1953, Kuper received a senior lectureship at the University of Natal in Durban. In addition to her academic work, together with her husband, Leo Kuper, she helped to found the Liberal Party in Natal
...
Wikipedia