Sonia Mary Cole (née Myers) (1918 – 1982) was an English

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

and author.

Biography

Sonia Cole was born Sonya Syers in

Westminster, London Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buc ...

, her mother marrying the 5th

Earl of Enniskillen Earl of Enniskillen is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for William Cole, 1st Viscount Enniskillen. He had already been created Viscount Enniskillen in the Peerage of Ireland in 1776 and had inherited the title Baron ...

as her second husband, and Sonia herself marrying his nephew, the 6th Earl. Cole worked for the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and conducted extensive fieldwork in Africa. She was a close friend and colleague of Mary Leakey, who wrote her obituary. David Lowry Cole, 6th Earl of Enniskillen (1918–1989) was divorced from his first wife Sonia in 1955. By her, he had issue one son and one daughter. Cole is most remembered for her work ''Races of Man'', which drew heavily from Carleton Coon."Review: Races of Man", Stanley M. Garn, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 65, No. 6, Dec., 1963, pp. 1410-1411.

Works

*''An Outline of the Geology of Kenya'' (1950) *''The Prehistory of East Africa'' (1954, 2nd ed. 1958, rev. ed. 1964) *''Races of Man'' (1963, 2nd ed. 1965) *''The Neolithic Age'' (1970) *''Leakey's Luck'' (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Sonia Mary 1910s births 1982 deaths Cole family (Anglo-Irish aristocracy) English anthropologists British women anthropologists 20th-century British geologists British women geologists English writers 20th-century British women scientists British women archaeologists