Charles Jean Marie Letourneau (23 September 1831,

Auray Auray (; , or simply ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department, Regions of France, administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Inhabitants of Auray are cal ...

– 21 February 1902,

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

) was a 19th-century French

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

Biography

In 1865 he joined the

Society of Anthropology of Paris The Society of Anthropology of Paris () is a French learned society for anthropology founded by Paul Broca in 1859. Broca served as the Secrétaire-général of SAP, and in that capacity responded to a letter from James Hunt welcoming the news th ...

of which he was general secretary from 1887 until his death. He thus succeeded

Paul Broca Pierre Paul Broca (, also , , ; 28 June 1824 – 9 July 1880) was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca's area is involve ...

who served in this position until 1880.

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State ''The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State: in the Light of the Researches of Lewis H. Morgan'' () is an 1884 anthropological treatise by Friedrich Engels. It is partially based on notes by Karl Marx to Lewis H. Morgan's book ''Anc ...

''. Engels asserts that an early stage of human society featured "complete promiscuity in sexual intercourse", contrary to the beliefs of most anthropologists of the era. He quotes Letourneau: "Among mammals there is no strict relation between the degree of intellectual development and the form of sexual life".

Publications

* 1868: ''La Physiologie des passions'' * 1877: ''La biologie'' * 1878: ''Physiologie des passions'' * 1879: ''Science et matérialisme'' * 1880: ''La sociologie d'après l'ethnographie'' * 1882: ''Questions de sociologie et d'ethnographie'' * 1887: ''L'Évolution de la morale, leçons professées pendant l'hiver de 1885-1886'' * 1888: ''L'évolution du mariage et de la famille'' * 1894: ''L'évolution littéraire dans les diverses races humaines'' * 1895: ''La guerre dans les diverses races humaines'' * 1897: ''L'évolution de l'esclavage dans les diverses races humaines'' * 1898: ''L'évolution de l'éducation dans les diverses races humaines'' * 1898: ''L'évolution religieuse'' ''dans les diverses races humaines'' * 1901: ''La psychologie ethnique'' * 1903: ''La condition de la femme dans les diverses races et civilisations''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letourneau, Charles French anthropologists 1831 births People from Auray 1902 deaths