Robert Briffault
Encyclopedia
Robert Stephen Briffault (1876 – 11 December 1948) was trained as a surgeon, but found fame as a social anthropologist and in later life as a novelist.
, France
. According to others he was born in London, though he spent time in France and elsewhere in Europe following his diplomat father. After the death of his father, Briffault and his Scottish-born mother emigrated to New Zealand
.
His first wife (m 1896) was Anna Clarke with whom he had three children. After her death he married Herma Hoyt (1898-1981), an American writer and translator.
Briffault received his MB, ChB from the University of Dunedin
in New Zealand
and commenced medical practice. After service on the Western Front
during World War I
(where he was awarded the Military Cross
, he settled in England where he turned to the study of sociology and anthropology. He also lived for some time in the USA, and later Paris
.
Briffault debated marriage with Bronisław Malinowski in the 1930s and corresponded with Bertrand Russell
.
He died in Hastings
, Sussex
, England on 11 December 1948.
Asked how to pronounce his name, Briffault told The Literary Digest
: "Should be pronounced bree'-foh, without attempting to give it a French pronunciation."
Biography
According to one source, Briffault was born in NiceNice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. According to others he was born in London, though he spent time in France and elsewhere in Europe following his diplomat father. After the death of his father, Briffault and his Scottish-born mother emigrated to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
His first wife (m 1896) was Anna Clarke with whom he had three children. After her death he married Herma Hoyt (1898-1981), an American writer and translator.
Briffault received his MB, ChB from the University of Dunedin
University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine
The Dunedin School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that make up the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago. All Otago University medical students who gain entry after a first year "Health Sciences" program, or who gain graduate entry spend their second and third years studying...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and commenced medical practice. After service on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(where he was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, he settled in England where he turned to the study of sociology and anthropology. He also lived for some time in the USA, and later Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Briffault debated marriage with Bronisław Malinowski in the 1930s and corresponded with Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
.
He died in Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England on 11 December 1948.
Asked how to pronounce his name, Briffault told The Literary Digest
Literary Digest
The Literary Digest was an influential general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, Public Opinion and Current Opinion.-History:...
: "Should be pronounced bree'-foh, without attempting to give it a French pronunciation."
Non-Fiction
- The Making of Humanity (1919)
- Psyche's Lamp: a re-evaluation of psychological principles as a foundation of all thought (1921)
- The Mothers: A Study of the Origins of Sentiments and Institutions (1927)
- Rational Evolution (1930)
- Sin and Sex (1931)
- Breakdown: The Collapse of Traditional Civilization (1932)
- Reasons for Anger: selected essays (1937)
- The Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1938)
- Marriage Past and Present (1956) edited radio debate between Briffault and Bronislaw MalinowskiBronislaw MalinowskiBronisław Kasper Malinowski was a Polish-born- British-naturalized anthropologist, one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists.From 1910, Malinowski studied exchange and economics at the London School of Economics under Seligman and Westermarck, analysing patterns of exchange in...
, originall published as a series in The ListenerThe ListenerThe Listener was a weekly magazine established by the BBC in January 1929 which ceased publication in 1991. The entire digitised catalogue was made available online to libraries, educational and research institutions in 2011.... - Les Troubadours et le sentiment romanesque (1945) (in French)
- The Troubadours (1965) (revised translation of the above)
Fiction
- Europa: a novel of the days of ignorance (1935) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
- Europa in Limbo (1937)
- The Ambassadress (1939)
- Fandango (1940)
- New Life of Mr. Martin (1947)