Henry Devenish Skinner

Henry Devenish Skinner (18 December 1886 – 9 February 1978), known as Harry Skinner or H.D. Skinner, was a notable New Zealand soldier, ethnologist, university lecturer, museum curator and director, and librarian.

Early life and education The son of William Skinner and Margaret Bracken Devenish, Henry Devenish Skinner was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 18 December 1886.

Skinner enrolled in the cadet corps at New Plymouth Central School aged 11, and did his secondary schooling at Nelson College from 1902, as a boarder.

Skinner's appointments included: Assistant Director, Otago Museum (1919-37) Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Otago (1919-54; the first such position in Australasia) Director, Otago Museum (1938-52); Director Emeritus (1953)

He developed a long association with Willi Fels at the University of Otago.

Soldier Skinner volunteered for military service at the end of 1914, after World War I had begun. He was a private in the 14th Company of Otago Battalion, and sailed for Egypt in April 1915. ) in 1925, the Hector Memorial Medal in 1926, and the Andree Medal in 1936. In the 1956 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services as director of Otago Museum and lecturer in anthropology at the University of Otago. During his time at the museum, Skinner was responsible for adding more than 65,000 objects to the humanities collections, including purchasing a piece of from one of Fletcher Christian's direct descendants.

Skinner was one of 24,000 Anzac soldiers wounded at Gallipoli. In 2015, the Otago Museum opened the exhibition "Surviving Chunuk Bair: H. D. Skinner at Gallipoli using objects loaned by the Skinner family, including a sewing kit, medals, letters and photographs.

Personal life Skinner married Eva Louisa Gibbs on 5 December 1915 in Southampton, England, and they had two sons, but one was stillborn. She died in 1963.

Death and legacy Skinner developed Alzheimer's, and he died on 9 February 1978 in Dunedin.

He is especially remembered for helping to reinvigorate and expand the Otago Museum; he reported in 1951 that the museum had gained over 100,000 acquisitions since 1919. His work had a big influence on the development of anthropology and ethnology in New Zealand, and his analyses of Māori material culture set the standard and methods for the following 50 years. Several generations of archaeologists, especially in southern New Zealand, were inspired by his teachings.