William James Perry (1887–1949), usually known as W. J. Perry, was a leader in cultural anthropology at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

culture, according to him, was transmitted to the rest of the world from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. He was a convinced hyperdiffusionist and collaborated with

Grafton Elliot Smith Sir Grafton Elliot Smith (15 August 1871 – 1 January 1937) was an Australian-British anatomist, Egyptologist and a proponent of the hyperdiffusionist view of prehistory. He believed in the idea that cultural innovations occur only once and ...

. He was also interested in the history of religion. His daughter, a chemist, Margaret, married the eminent physiologist, Professor Robert Harkness.

Publications

*''The Megalithic Culture of Indonesia'' (1918)
Children of the Sun: a Study in the Early History of Civilization
' (London: Methuen, 1923); alternate title: ''The Children of the Sun: A Study of the Egyptian Settlement of the Pacific'' *''The Origin of Magic and Religion'' (1923) *''The Growth of Civilization'' (1924) *''Gods and Men: The Attainment of Immortality'' (1927) *''The Primordial Ocean: An Introductory Contribution to Social Psychology'' (1935)

References

1887 births 1949 deaths Academics of University College London British anthropologists Hyperdiffusionism 20th-century anthropologists {{UK-anthropologist-stub