Paul Schebesta (20 March 1887 – 17 September 1967) was a Polish Catholic missionary, ethnographer, linguist and anthropologist. He was a member of the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

. He is known for his studies on

pygmy peoples In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a po ...

and was one of the leading authorities on the subject.

Early life

Paul Schebesta was born on 20 March 1887 in

Pietrowice Wielkie Pietrowice Wielkie is a village in Racibórz County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the Czech border. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Pietrowice Wielkie. It lies approximately west of Raci ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). He was of Moravian ancestry and was fluent in Czech and Polish, but he had to learn German when he went to school. After going to high school in Nysa, Schebesta attended the , a seminary in

Maria Enzersdorf Maria Enzersdorf (Central Bavarian: ''Maria Enzasduaf'') is a small city in the district of Mödling (district), Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. There are several castles and ruins in the forests surrounding Maria Enzersdorf, in ...

Mödling District Bezirk Mödling is a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria. Municipalities Suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters. * Achau * Biedermannsdorf * Breitenfurt bei Wien * Brunn am Gebir ...

, and then the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, from which he received a doctorate in 1926.

Career

In 1911, Schebesta was ordained with the

(SVD) and was sent to

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

. He was interned by the colonial authority from 1916 to 1920, during

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 ...

, as an "enemy alien." After returning from Mozambique, he went back to the seminary in Mödling District and became an editor for the anthropological and ethnological journal '' Anthropos'' from 1920 to 1923 under the guide of Wilhelm Schmidt. Schmidt recommended that Schebesta should travel to

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

and study the

Semang The Semang are an ethnic-minority group of the Malay Peninsula. They live in mountainous and isolated forest regions of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and Kedah of Malaysia and the southern provinces of Thailand. The Semang are among the different eth ...

peoples, which he did in 1924. From 1934 to 1955, Schebesta made two more trips to study the Semang, three trips to the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

to study the

Mbuti people The Mbuti people, or Bambuti, are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages are Central Sudanic languages and Bantu languages. Subgroups Bambuti are pygmy hunter-gatherers, and are one of the oldest ...

, and a short trip to study the

Aeta people Aeta (Ayta ), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast A ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. His second expedition to the Congo was with

Martin Gusinde Martín Gusinde (29 October 1886, in Breslau – 10 October 1969, in Mödling, Austria) was an Austrian priest and ethnologist famous for his work in anthropology, particularly on the Fuegians. He was one of the most notable anthropologists in Ch ...

and . From these excursions, he learned the

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

, and Malay languages. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Schebesta focused on training SVD missionaries at the seminary in Mödling.

Death

Schebesta died on 17 September 1967, at the Mission House St. Gabriel seminary in Mödling.

Legacy

Schebesta was one of the first researchers at the time to classify pygmy people was a member of the human species, instead of a variation of mutation, rejecting the idea that they were primitive. He was also one of the first people to describe the pygmies in Southeast Asia and Africa. Schebesta also wanted to foster the survival of the pygmies and make sure that they would fit into modern civilization, to which the Bambuti people gave him the honorary title of "Baba wa Bambuti". He also worked on recording the and preserving the dialects and languages of the people, including Mamvu, Mangbutu,

Batak Karo The Karo (also known as Karo Batak) people are a people of the ''Tanah Karo'' (Karo lands) in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Karo lands consist of Karo Regency, plus neighboring areas in East Aceh Regency, Langkat Regency, Dairi Regency, Simal ...

, Mvuba, and Lese.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schebesta, Paul 1887 births 1967 deaths People from Racibórz County Divine Word Missionaries Order Polish Roman Catholic missionaries University of Vienna alumni 20th-century anthropologists Polish anthropologists Polish ethnographers 20th-century Polish linguists