Evon Zartman Vogt, Jr. (August 18, 1918 – May 13, 2004) was an American

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portman ...

best known for his work among the Tzotzil Mayas of Chiapas, Mexico. Vogt was the author of numerous articles and 19 books. He was a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1960), a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(1979), a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

(1999), and a recipient of the

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle ( es, Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca) forms part of the Mexican Honours System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country. History It was created by decree on December 29, 193 ...

, the highest honor awarded to foreigners by the Mexican government.

Biography

Vogt Jr., born in

Gallup, New Mexico Zuni: ''Kalabwaki'' , settlement_type = City , nickname = "Indian Capital of the World" , motto = , image_skyline = Gallup, New Mexico.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption ...

to Evon Z. Vogt Sr. and Shirley Bergman. Vogt attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

on a full scholarship, and earned his B.A. in Geography in 1941. After spending the years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Navy, Vogt returned to the University of Chicago to pursue graduate studies. He received his M.A. in 1946 and his Ph.D. in 1948. Vogt initially joined the faculty at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

as an instructor in the Department of Social Relations. He was later promoted to professor, and would spend the entirety of his career at Harvard, serving in time as Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, Co-Master of Kirkland House (with his wife Catherine C. Vogt), and Chairman of the Center for Latin American Studies. He directed the Harvard Chiapas Project, which focused on the indigenous

Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzo ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

of the central highlands of

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Vogt died on May 13, 2004 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Published works

Vogt's publications include: *1951 ''Navaho Means People''. Harvard University Press, with Clyde Kluckhohn, photos by Leonard McCombe. *1955 ''Modern Homesteaders. The Life of a Twentieth-Century Frontier Community''. Belknap Press (of Harvard University Press). *1959 ''Water Witching USA''. University of Chicago Press, with Ray Hyman. *1966 ''People of Rimrock; a study of values in five cultures''. Harvard University Press, edited by Evon Z. Vogt and Ethel M. Albert *1969 ''Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands of Chiapas''. Cambridge: The Belknap Press (of Harvard University Press). *1976 ''Tortillas for the Gods: A Symbolic Analysis of Zinacanteco Rituals''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. *1979 ''Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological Approach''. Allyn & Bacon; 4 edition (January 20, 1997) with William A. Lessa. *1994 ''Fieldwork Among the Maya: Reflections on the Harvard Chiapas Project''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

References

1918 births Latin Americanists Mayanists Mesoamerican anthropologists American Mesoamericanists 20th-century Mesoamericanists Harvard University faculty 2004 deaths 20th-century American anthropologists Members of the American Philosophical Society {{US-anthropologist-stub

Biography

Published works

See also

References