Larissa Adler Lomnitz ( Milstein; 17 June 1932 - 13 April 2019) was a French-born Chilean-Mexican

social anthropologist 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 ...

, researcher, professor, and academic. After living in France, Colombia, and Israel, she received Chilean nationality by marriage and Mexican nationality by residence. She conducted research and studies regarding the way in which marginalized classes survive in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. She pioneered the study of

social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

s and the study of the importance of trust for the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Her first study in this regard focused on the exchange of favors in the Chilean

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

. Lomnitz completed her doctoral thesis about the importance of exchanging favors and confidence in the informal economy in Mexico City. She then explored the importance of social networks in very diverse fields: scientific communities, the Mexican upper class, and the teaching profession in Chile, among others. She wrote more than 70 chapters in books, nine books, and various popular articles for magazines.

Early life and education

Larissa Adler Milstein was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France in 1932 to Jewish-Romanian parents. Her father was the anthropologist, Miguel Adler, who trained with Paul Rivet. Her mother was Noemi Lisa Milstein de Adler (1910-1976). Shortly after Lomnitz was born, her family moved to live in Colombia. In 1948, when the State of Israel was formed, her family joined the

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

movement. In 1950, she married the Chilean

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

, Cinna Lomnitz, with whom she lived in Chile and the United States. Their children were Jorge (1954-1993),

Claudio Claudio is an Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese, it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan and Occitan, it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudius was the name of an eminent Roman gens, the most importa ...

, Alberto, and Tania. Lomnitz received a bachelor's degree with Honors in Social Anthropology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. In 1974, she earned a doctorate in the same specialty at the

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University (), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'', is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican province of the Society of Jesus ( ...

(UIA) of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Career

In 1967, Lomnitz affiliated with the Center for Mental Health Research at the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. In Mexico, she affiliated with the Children's Hospital of the

Secretariat of Health The Secretariat of Health ( Spanish: ''Secretaría de Salud'') is the government department in charge of all social health services in Mexico, and an integral part of the Mexican health system. The Secretary of Health is a member of the Executive ...

, as well as the Center for Technological Innovation and the Institute of Applied Mathematics Research of

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

. Lomnitz taught

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 ...

and

economic anthropology Economic anthropology is a field that attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic, geographic and cultural scope. It is an amalgamation of economics and anthropology. It is practiced by anthropologists and has a complex re ...

at Universidad Iberoamericana;

Urban sociology Urban sociology is the sociological study of cities and urban life. One of the field’s oldest sub-disciplines, urban sociology studies and examines the social, historical, political, cultural, economic, and environmental forces that have shaped ...

and Exchange Systems at the Faculty of Architecture of the

; and Urban

Methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...

and

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

at the

National School of Anthropology and History National School of Anthropology and History (in Spanish (language), Spanish: ''Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, ENAH'') is a Mexican Institution of higher education founded in 1938 and a prominent center for the study of Anthropology ...

). She was a visiting professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the Graduate School of Arts and Science of the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, the Fundación José Ortega y Gasset, the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

among others. She specialized in research and study on how people live and help marginalized classes in Latin America. As with Oscar Lewis, Lomnitz rejected the relationship between

human migration Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another, with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another ( ...

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

, and disorganization proposed by the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s based on the theories of

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (10 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel ''Watership Down'' which achieved international acclaim. His other works included ''Maia'', '' Shardik'' and '' The Plague Do ...

. She conducted studies of the Mexican university world indicating that there were four “life careers”: academic, professional,

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

politics, and pragmatic politics. In the area of

political anthropology Political anthropology is the comparative study of politics in a broad range of historical, social, and cultural settings. History of political anthropology Origins Political anthropology has its roots in the 19th century. At that time, thinkers ...

, she demonstrated that highly centralized systems generate a parallel system of

informal economy An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither Taxation, taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developin ...

, as happened in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Lomnitz was a member of several societies and academies, including the Mexican Society of Anthropology, the

Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexico, Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent forei ...

, the Society of Urban Anthropology and Economics, The College of Ethnologists and Anthropologists, and the Javier Barros Sierra Foundation. She served as president of the Society for Latin American Anthropology, and was the director of the War and Peace Studies Commission of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. She was a member of the Scientific Committee of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Forum on Higher Education Research and Knowledge. She was an emeritus researcher for the National System of Researchers and a member of the Science Advisory Council of the Presidency of the Republic. In 2010, she was elected a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. Guillermo de la Peña Topete published Lomnitz's biography, ''Larissa Adler Lomnitz: Antropóloga latinoamericana'', in 2004. She died in Mexico City, Mexico, on 13 April 2019, aged 87.

Awards and honors

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, 1977 * Premio Universidad Nacional, in the area of social sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), 1990 * Investigadora Emérita,

Sistema Nacional de Investigadores Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (National System of Researchers) or SNI is a governmental agency established in Mexico in 1984 to promote both the quantity and quality of research in Mexico, especially in the sciences. In the 1980s, the countr ...

, 1996 * Honorary doctorate,

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

, 1998 * Alfonso Reyes Chair,

, 2000 * Chair of Mexican Studies,

, 2001. * Emeritus Researcher, Institute of Applied Mathematics and Systems Research, UNAM, 2005 * National Prize for Arts and Sciences, 2006 * Member,

, 2010

Selected works

* ''Reciprocity of Favors in the Middle Class of Chile'', 1971 * ''Networks and marginality (Cerrada del Cóndor, engl.) Life in a Mexican shantytown.'', 1977 * ''¿Cómo sobreviven los marginados?'' * ''A Mexican Elite Family 1820-1980 : Kinship, Class and Culture'', 1987 * ''Chile's middle class : a struggle for survival in the face of neoliberalism'', 1991 * ''Redes sociales cultura y poder : ensayos de antropologia latinoamericana'', 1994 * ''Chile's political culture and parties : an anthropological explanation'' 2000 * ''Simbolismo y ritual en la política mexicana'' * ''Lo formal y lo informal en las sociedades contemporáneas'', 2008 * "Migration" in ''Networks and Marginality'', 1977 * “Supervivencia en una barriada de la ciudad de México” in ''Demografía y Economía'' * "Problemática de la ciencia en México" in ''Ciencia'' * “Anthropology and Development in Latin America” in ''Human Organization''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomnitz, Larissa Adler 1932 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Chilean women writers 20th-century Mexican women writers 20th-century Mexican writers 21st-century Chilean women writers 21st-century Mexican women writers Academic staff of the University of Chile Chilean anthropologists Mexican anthropologists Chilean women anthropologists Mexican women anthropologists 20th-century French women educators 20th-century French educators 20th-century Mexican women educators 20th-century Mexican educators Chilean women educators Chilean non-fiction writers Mexican non-fiction writers French people of Romanian-Jewish descent University of California, Berkeley alumni Universidad Iberoamericana alumni Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico New York University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico)