Hilda Kuper

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Hilda Kuper
Born(1911-08-23)23 August 1911
University of Witwatersrand
London School of Economics
Thesis
  • An African Aristocracy: Rank among the Swazi
  • The Uniform of Colour: a Study of White–Black Relationships in Swaziland
 (1947)
Doctoral advisorBronisław Malinowski
Academic work
DisciplineSocial anthropology
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Doctoral studentsDawn Chatty
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Hilda Beemer Kuper (

Swazi
culture. She started studying the Swazi culture and associating with the Swaziland's royal family after she was awarded with a grant by the International African Institute of London. She studied and illustrated Swazi traditions embodied in the political vision of
King Sobhuza II
, who later became a close friend. King Sobhuza II personally awarded Kuper with Swazi citizenship in 1970.

Early life and education

Born to

Austrian Jewish parents in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, Kuper moved to South Africa after the death of her father. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and, afterwards, at the London School of Economics under Malinowski
.

Doctoral fieldwork and anthropological career

In 1934, Kuper won a fellowship from the International African Institute to study in Swaziland.

siSwati and pursued her fieldwork.[4]
This phase of Kuper's researches into Swazi culture culminated in the two-part dissertation, An African Aristocracy: Rank among the Swazi (1947) and The Uniform of Colour: a Study of White–Black Relationships in Swaziland (1947).

In the early 1950s, Kuper moved to

Natal.[2][4] In the 1950s, she also wrote the play A Witch in My Heart, which was first published in an isiZulu translation in 1962, before the original English language text was published in 1970.[5][6] She later described this play as the best ethnography she ever wrote.[6]

In 1961, the Kupers moved to

UCLA.[2][4] In 1963, Kuper published The Swazi: a South African Kingdom and was herself appointed professor of anthropology at UCLA.[2][4] Kuper was a popular teacher,[2] and in 1969, won a Guggenheim fellowship.[3]

In 1978, Kuper published an extensive, official biography of Sobhuza II, King Sobhuza II, Ngwenyama and King of Swaziland.[7]

Awards

Award Awarding body Year
Rivers Memorial Medal
 Royal Anthropological Institute 1961
Guggenheim Fellowship John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 1969
Honorary doctorate
University of Swaziland
 1990

Personal life

Kuper married Leo Kuper in 1936. They had two daughters, Mary and Jenny.[2][4] Her nephew, Adam Kuper, is also an anthropologist.

Publications

  • An African aristocracy: rank among the Swazi. Oxford University Press. 1947.[8]
  • The uniform of colour, a study of white-black relationships in Swaziland. 1947.[9]
  • African systems of kinship and marriage. 1950.[10]
  • The Shona and Ndebele of Southern Rhodesia. 1954.[11]
  • An Ethnographic Description of a Tamil-Hindu Marriage in Durban. 1956.[12]
  • An ethnographic description of Kavady, a Hindu ceremony in South Africa. 1959.[13]
  • Indian people in Natal. 1960.[14]
  • The Swazi: a South African kingdom. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1963.[15]
  • African law: adaptation and development. 1965.[16]
  • Bite of Hunger: A Novel of Africa. 1965.[17]
  • Urbanization and migration in West Africa. 1965.[18]
  • A Witch in My Heart: A Play about the Swazi People. Oxford University Press for the International African Institute. 1970.[19][5]
    • First published in 1962 as Inhliziyo Ngumthakathi, a translation into isiZulu by Trevor Cope[5]
    • Published in 1978 as Inhlitiyo Ngumtsakatsi, a translation into siSwati by Thembi Mthembu and Zodwa Ginindza[5]
  • Sobhuza II, Ngwenyama and King of Swaziland: the story of an hereditary ruler and his country. 1970.[20]
  • South Africa: human rights and genocide. 1981.[21]

References

  1. ^
    JSTOR 1161098
    . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "University of California: In Memoriam, 1994". University of California. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Hilda Kuper". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95674. Retrieved 24 October 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4985-7796-0
    .
  6. ^
    ISSN 1548-1409
    .
  7. ^ "Swazi History : Books To Read On Swazi History". Swaziland National Trust Commission. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  8. OCLC 233856
    .
  9. OCLC 822668
    .
  10. OCLC 637784232
    .
  11. OCLC 1830712
    .
  12. OCLC 901498513
    .
  13. OCLC 820108098
    .
  14. OCLC 3484795
    .
  15. OCLC 386761
    .
  16. OCLC 1002464
    .
  17. OCLC 292042
    .
  18. OCLC 170511
    .
  19. OCLC 103701
    .
  20. OCLC 3706426
    .
  21. OCLC 13216218
    .
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