Georg Pfeffer

Georg Pfeffer (17 January 1943 — 20 May 2020) was a German anthropologist. Born in 1943 in Berlin to a German sociologist father and a British mother, he was schooled in Hamburg. In 1959, he moved to Lahore with his family, and studied at the city's Forman Christian College for 3 years. Later, he moved back to Germany and studied at the University of Freiburg where he also completed his Ph.D.

He served for 1 year as lecturer and for nearly 6 years as a professor of ethnology at the Heidelberg University. Later, he joined the Free University of Berlin and served as a professor at its Institute of Ethnology for nearly 23 years until his retirement in 2008. He had done fieldwork among the Adivasis of India's central regions, and in the eastern state Odisha. He also did field research in Pakistan. He was a co-founder of the European Association of Social Anthropologists and had worked at various editorial positions in a few anthropological journals. He died at the age of 77 years after a grave illness.

Early life and family Georg Pfeffer was born on 17 January 1943 at Berlin in Germany to Karl Heinz Pfeffer and Margaret Wainman Kirby.

Education When Georg Pfeffer was 16 years old, the Pfeffer family shifted to Lahore in Pakistan. From 1959 to 1962, he studied at the Forman Christian College. During that time, he also learned about the culture, society, and language of Pakistan. Later, he returned to Germany. In 1966, he started to study history of religion, sociology, and ethnology at the University of Freiburg. His teachers at the university included Rolf Herzog and Heinrich Popitz. In 1970, he completed his Ph.D. at the university.

Academic career and research The subjects of Pfeffer's research included the study of power relations, anthropology of kinship, and anthropology of religion. He carried out field studies in India and Pakistan since 1968.

At the Heidelberg University, From 1979 to 1985, he worked as a professor of ethnology at the Heidelberg University. .

Since 1990, he was a member of the editorial staff of the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie for its South Asia and Symbolic Classification subject. From 1993 to 1995, he along with Bernhard Hänsel, served as the co-editor for the publications of the Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte.

Other interests Pfeffer was also interested in literature, art, music, sports, and the current political events.

Death Pfeffer died on 20 May 2020 at the age of 77 because of severe illness.

Works Pfeffer wrote 4 monographs, 93 research papers, 22 reviews, 12 serials and 13 other miscellanea.

Books Some of the books authored by Pfeffer are as follows:

Selected papers