Rosemary, Lady Firth (1912 – 9 July 2001) was a British

social anthropologist Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

, and wife of Sir Raymond Firth. She specialised in the field of

domestic economy Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

Life

Rosemary Firth (née Upcott) was born in 1912. Her father was a distinguished official in the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

. She took a Political Economy degree (MA) in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1935, and then moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She married Raymond Firth in 1936, and accompanied him to

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

to undertake fieldwork from 1939 to 1940. She focussed on the domestic economy of the female villagers, resulting in the publication of ''Housekeeping among Malay Peasants'' in 1943. She worked as a lecturer in health education at the University of London

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to m ...

for many years, whilst continuing her anthropological research interests. Her son Hugh was born in 1946. When her husband was knighted in 1973, Rosemary Firth took the title Lady Firth. She died in 2001. Following her death, Sir Raymond established The Rosemary and Raymond Firth Award in the Department of Anthropology at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. This award has the specific aim of promoting Rosemary’s interest in 'the anthropology of household management and the organisation of domestic affairs'.

Selected bibliography

* ''Housekeeping among Malay Peasants'' (1943) * 'From Wife to Anthropologist' in ''Crossing Cultural Boundaries: The Anthropological Experience'' (eds) Solon Kimball and James B Watson San Francisco: Chandler, 10-32 (1972) * 'The Best Circle: Society, Etiquette and the Season' ''Sociology'' 8(2):339-340 (1974) * 'Anthropologists in the Lions' Den?' ''Current Anthropology'' 17(4):770-771 (1976) * 'Cooking in a Kelantan Fishing Village, Malaya' in ''The Anthropologist’s Cookbook'' (ed) Jessica Kuper New York: Universe (1977) * 'Mad Dogs, Englishmen and the Errant Anthropologist: Field Work in Malaysia' ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute'' 3(4):795-796 (1997)

Other sources

* Hardiman, Margaret, 'A memory of Rosemary Firth' ''Anthropology Today'' 18(1):23 (2002)

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 8 July 1983 (poor quality video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Rosemary British women anthropologists Social anthropologists 1912 births 2001 deaths People associated with the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Edinburgh