Robert Baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

 (Freiherr

Freiherr

The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...

) von Heine-Geldern (July 16, 1885 - May 25/26, 1968), often known as Robert Heine-Geldern, was a noted Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n ethnologist, ancient historian, and archaeologist, and a grandnephew of poet Heinrich Heine

Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...

.

Biography

Heine-Geldern was born in Grub, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, studied first at the University of Munich, then art history

Art history

Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...

 and ethnography

Ethnography

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...

 under Father Wilhelm Schmidt

Wilhelm Schmidt

Wilhelm Schmidt was an Austrian linguist, anthropologist, and ethnologist.Wilhelm Schmidt was born in Hörde, Germany in 1868. He entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1890 and was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1892. He studied linguistics at the universities of Berlin and...

 (1868-1954) at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

. In 1910 he traveled to the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 / Burma boundary to study local populations, completing his thesis in 1914 on The Mountain Tribes of Northeastern Burma.

Heine-Geldern performed military service 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...

, then worked at the Naturhistorisches Museum

Naturhistorisches Museum

The Naturhistorisches Museum Wien or NHMW is a large museum located in Vienna, Austria.The collections displayed cover , and the museum has a website providing an overview as a video virtual tour....

 in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. His research combined ethnological, pre-historical and archaeological concepts, and in 1923 pioneered the field of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

n anthropology with his chapter "Sϋdostasien" in G. Buschan's Illustrierte Völkerkunde. He began teaching at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

 in 1927, where he became Professor in 1931. From 1938 through World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he lived as a refugee in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he worked at the American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

. At this time he was instrumental in creation of the Southeast Asia Institute

Southeast Asia Institute

The Southeast Asia Institute was an early academic institute devoted to Southeast Asian studies. It is said to be the first United States institution employing the term "Southeast Asia"....

 in the United States (1941). He returned to Vienna in 1950 where he joined the Ethnology Institute. He died in Vienna.

Heine-Geldern was active in starting Southeast Asian studies

Southeast Asian studies

Southeast Asian Studies refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia.-Publication:Southeast Asian Studies is also the English name of the Japanese scholarly journal...

 as an academic field, and his essay on "Conceptions of State and Kingship in Southeast Asia," (1942) is now classic. He was awarded a medal by the Viking Fund, and was a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

Austrian Academy of Sciences

The Austrian Academy of Sciences is a legal entity under the special protection of the Federal Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every field, particularly in fundamental research...

, Royal Asiatic Society

Royal Asiatic Society

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...

, Royal Anthropological Institute, and the École française d'Extrême-Orient

École française d'Extrême-Orient

The École française d'Extrême-Orient is a French institute dedicated to the study of Asian societies. Translated into English, it approximately means the French School of the Far East. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in what was then French Indochina. After independence, its...

.

Selected works

• "Gibt es eine austroasiatische Rasse?", Archiv für Anthropologie (XLVI), 1921, pp. 79-99.
• "Südostasien," in G. Buschan (ed.), Illustrierte Völkerkunde, (Stuttgart: Strecker und Schröder, 1923), II, i, pp. 689-968.
• Altjavanische Bronzen aus dem Besitz der Ethnographischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, (Wien: C. W.Stern,1925), Artis Thesaurus I.
• "Eine Szene aus dem Sutasoma - Jataka auf hinterindischen und indonesischen Schwertgriffen," IPEK, Jahrbuch für Prahistorische und Ethnographische Kunst (1), 1925, pp. 198-238.
• "Die Steinzeit Südostasiens," Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien (LVII), 1927, pp. 47-54.
• "Ein Beitrag zur Chronologic des Neolithikums in Südostasien," in W. Koppers (ed.), Publication d'Hommage Offerte au P. W. Schmidt (Wien: Mechithaπsten-Congregations-Buchdruckerei, 1928), pp. 809-843.
• "Die Megalithen Südostasiens und ihre Bedeutung für die Klärung der Megalithenfrage in Europa und Polynesien," Anthropos (XXIII), 1928, pp. 276-315.
• "Weltbild und Bauform in Südostasien," Wiener Beiträge zur Kunst und Kultur Asiens (IV), 1928-1929, pp. 28-78.
• "Urheimat und früheste Wanderungen der Austronesier," Anthropos (XXVII), 1932, pp. 543-619.
• "Vorgeschichtliche Grundlagen der kolonialindischen Kunst," Wiener Beiträge zur Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte (VIII), 1934, pp. 5-4θ.
• "The Archeology and Art of Sumatra," in E. M. Loeb (ed.), Sumatra: Its History and People (Vienna: University of Vienna, 1935), pp. 305-331.
• "L'art prébouddhique de la Chine et de 1'Asie du Sud-Est et son influence en Océanie," Revue des Arts Asiatiques (XI), 1937, pp. 177-206.
• "Conceptions of State and Kingship in Southeast Asia," Far Eastern Quarterly (II), 1942, pp. 15-30. Revised version: Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Data Paper #18, Cornell University, 1956.
• A Survey of Studies on Southeast Asia at American Universities and Colleges (New York: East Indies Institute of America, 1943).
• "Prehistoric Research in the Netherlands Indies," in P. Honig and F. Verdoorn (eds.), Science and Scientists in the Netherlands Indies (New York: Board for the Netherlands Indies, Surinam and Curaςao, 1945). Reprint: (New York: Southeast Asia Institute, 1945), pp. 129-167.
• "Research on Southeast Asia: Problems and Suggestions," American Anthropologist (XLVIII), 1946, pp. 149-174.
• "The Drum named Makalamau," in India Antigua. A Volume of Oriental Studies Presented to J. P. Vogel (Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1947), pp. 167-179.
• "Indonesian Art," United Asia (I), 1949, pp. 402-411.
• Significant parallels in the symbolic arts of Southern Asia and Middle America, 1951.
• "Bronzegeräte auf Flores," Anthropos (XLIX), 1954, pp. 683-685.
• "Herkunft und Ausbreitung der Hochkulturen," Almanach der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1955, p. 105.
• "The Coming of the Aryans and the End of the Harappa Civilization," Man, Vol 56, pp136-140, October 1956.
• "Zwei alte Weltanschauungen und ihre kulturgeschichΐliche Bedeutung," Anzeiger der phil.- hist. Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (No. 17), 1957, pp.251-262.
• "Steinurnen- und Tonurnenbestattung in Südostasien," Der Schlern (No. 32), 1958, pp. 135-138.