Jan Vansina
Encyclopedia
Jan Vansina is a historian and anthropologist specializing in Africa. He is the foremost authority on the history of the peoples of Central Africa
.
but became known as one of the most prominent Africanist scholars. In his work, he focuses on the history of African societies prior to European contact, and is widely regarded as the foremost authority on the history of the peoples of Central Africa
. He has published widely on the subject.
Vansina obtained his doctorate in history from the Catholic University of Leuven
in 1957. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and lives in Madison, Wisconsin
.
Vansina assisted Alex Haley
(the author of the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family
) in deciphering several African words that had been handed down from Haley's ancestors, determining that they were of Mandinka
origin.http://www.everygeneration.co.uk/Roots/searching_for_roots2.htm
Perhaps coincidentally, Robert Ludlum
's 2000 spy novel The Prometheus Deception
features a character named Jan Vansina.
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
.
Biography
Vansina was first trained as a medievalist and ethnographerEthnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
but became known as one of the most prominent Africanist scholars. In his work, he focuses on the history of African societies prior to European contact, and is widely regarded as the foremost authority on the history of the peoples of Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
. He has published widely on the subject.
Vansina obtained his doctorate in history from the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
in 1957. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and lives in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
.
Vansina assisted Alex Haley
Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
(the author of the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States, and follows his life and the lives of his descendants in the U.S....
) in deciphering several African words that had been handed down from Haley's ancestors, determining that they were of Mandinka
Mandinka language
The Mandinka language is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka people in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of The Gambia. It belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus fairly...
origin.http://www.everygeneration.co.uk/Roots/searching_for_roots2.htm
Perhaps coincidentally, Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
's 2000 spy novel The Prometheus Deception
The Prometheus Deception
The Prometheus Deception is a spy fiction thriller novel written in 2000 by Robert Ludlum about an agent in an ultraclandestine agency known only as the Directorate named Nick Bryson, alias Jonas Barett, alias Jonathan Coleridge, alias The Technician, who is thrown into a fight between an...
features a character named Jan Vansina.
External links
- "History Facing the Present: An Interview with Jan Vansina", by Karel Arnaut and Hein Vanhee (1 November 2001)
- "Jan Vansina on the Belgian Historiography of Africa: Around the Agenda of a Bombing Raid, by Jean-Luc Vellut
- Interview with Jan Vansina, Spring 1994 (requires registration)