Robert Fritz Graebner (4 March 1877,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– 13 July 1934, Berlin) was a German

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

best known for his development of the theory of '' Kulturkreis'', or culture circle. He was the first theoretician of the ''Vienna School of Ethnology''. Graebner advanced a theory of diffusion of culture (Kulturkreise) which became the basis of a culture-historical approach to

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

. His theories had influence for a time in the field of

, and were also propounded by

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

, Clark Wissler and Paul Kirchhoff. He also induced the concept of "primeval culture". He was in Australia attending an anthropological conference when

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out in 1914, and due to accusations of having hidden certain sensitive documents he was not allowed to leave Australia for the duration of the war. He is known for identifying six primeval culture complexes in the Oceania region, given in his book "Ethnologie": Tasmanian culture, Old Australian boomerang culture, Totemic hunter culture, Moitey complex (two class horticulturists culture), Melenesian bow culture, and Polynesian patrilineal culture.

Publications

*''Methode der Ethnologie'' (Method of Ethnology), 1911 *''Das Weltbild der Primitiven'' (The World View of the Primitives), 1924

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graebner, Robert Fritz German anthropologists 1877 births 1934 deaths