Isaac Schapera

Isaac Schapera
Schapera in the 1950s
Born	(1905-06-23)June 23, 1905 Garies, Cape Colony
Died	June 26, 2003(2003-06-26) (aged 98) London, England
Fields	Social anthropologist
Institutions	London School of Economics
Alma mater	University of Cape Town London School of Economics
Influences	Bronislaw Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
Influenced	Eileen Krige, Hilda Kuper, Max Gluckman, John Comaroff and Jean Comaroff

Isaac Schapera (23 June 1905 Garies, Cape Colony – 26 June 2003 London, England), was a social anthropologist at the London School of Economics specialising in South Africa. He was notable for his contributions of ethnographic and typological studies of the indigenous peoples of Botswana and South Africa. Additionally, he was one of the founders of the group that would develop British social anthropology.

Not only did Schapera write numerous publications of his extensive research done in South Africa and Botswana, he published his work throughout his career (1923–1969), and even after he retired. As an anthropologist he focused on the lives and customs of the indigenous tribesmen of South Africa and was considered to be a specialist in the topic. Early in his career he would focus on studies of the Khoisan of South Africa until the 1930s, when he would begin to focus on Tswana of Botswana.

Schapera also received many honours and titles, such as being the president of the Royal Anthropology Institute. Additionally, he was awarded an honorary doctorate when the University of Botswana was founded in 1985, was elected as Chair of the Association of Social Anthropology, and the Journal of African Law was founded in his honour.

To compile his work for future generations and note his anthropological contributions a bibliography was published in the Botswana Journal of African African Studies. This academic journal has also dedicated an entire issue to the work he had done throughout his career. In 2003 his obituary was published in the academic journal Anthropology Today, titled the "The Legacy of Isaac Schapera". In the wake of his death, photographs he had taken of South Africa were published in a book Picturing a Colonial Past; The African Photographs by Isaac Schapera and the Recovering the Botswana project would be dedicated to him.

Schapera was born in Garies, Namaqualand, South Africa where his father owned a general store. In his youth he attended school, and later university, in Cape Town, South Africa. During his early university career he was enrolled in law, but would later switch to anthropology. He was a student of Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, who is considered a founder of structural-functionalism theory in anthropology. After finishing his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in anthropology, Schapera completed his doctorate at the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE) where he would be influenced by Bronislaw Malinowski. Thereafter he taught briefly at the University of Witwatersrand before returning to Cape Town. There he worked as a professor of social anthropology before joining the Department of Anthropology at LSE. His continued to work there until he retired in 1969.