Ladislav Holý (1933–1997) was a Czech anthropologist and Africanist of the British school of

social anthropology 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 ...

. He combined interpretative approach with

methodological individualism In the social sciences, methodological individualism is the principle that subjective individual motivation explains social phenomena, rather than class or group dynamics which are illusory or artificial and therefore cannot truly explain marke ...

, most notably in the '' Actions, Norms and Representations'', co-written with Milan Stuchlik.

Early life

Holý studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

at the

Charles' University Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. There he met his future wife and research partner, Alice Sučíková, who accompanied him on many of his

fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

trips in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. While studying at the university, he also befriended Milan Stuchlík, with whom he was later to publish several books.

Work & thought

In the 1960s he was very much influenced by the British school of

, notably

structural functionalism Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability". This approach looks at society through a macro-level o ...

. Along with Milan Stuchlík, they published a book called '' Social Stratification in Tribal Africa'' (1968), which gained much interest in the West as it was based on ideas opposing the current trend of Marxist anthropology. During the 1960s, he visited Sudan several times and as a result published '' Neighbours and Kinsmen'' in 1973, which defined his lifelong interest in the study of

kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says th ...

. Between the years 1968 and 1972, he embarked on field-trips to the Toka peoples of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

. In 1972, Holý realised that independent academic research in Czechoslovakia was now impossible, as the relatively free spirit of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Se ...

had been quelled by the invading forces of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

. Consequently, Holý decided not to return home and instead took up

Meyer Fortes Meyer Fortes FBA FRAI (25 April 1906 – 27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" ...

' recommendation to take up a post at the department of

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. Milan Stuchlík joined him later on and both anthropologists carried on with their collaborative research until the death of Stuchlík in 1980, publishing, most notably, '' Actions, Norms and Representations'' in 1983. The two of them edited four volumes of papers as ''

Queen's University Papers in Social Anthropology Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

'', including the one in which they questioned the segmentary lineage system. In 1979 Holý joined the University of St. Andrews in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

as a Reader, establishing the Department of Social Anthropology. He became a Professor there in 1987. In the same year, Holý edited a volume on ''

Comparative Anthropology general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as well ...

''. Perhaps his most notable publication from this period is '' Religion and Custom in a Muslim Society'' of 1991, which showed the existence of a form of African Muslim practice, as distinct from the more commonly known Arabic practice.

Notes

External links

Britské listy: Zemřel antropolog Ladislav Holý, autor studie Malý český člověk a velký český národ (1996)

Ladislav Holy (website)

'Ladislav Holy and Ernest Gellner' (journal article)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy, Ladislav 1933 births 1997 deaths Academic staff of Charles University Charles University alumni Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of Queen's University Belfast Social anthropologists Czech anthropologists Czech Africanists 20th-century anthropologists