Rhoda Bubendey Métraux (18 October 1914,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– 26 November 2003,

Barton, Vermont Barton is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,872 at the 2020 census. The town includes two incorporated villages, Barton and Orleans. Approximately a quarter of the town's population lives in each of th ...

) was a prominent

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 ...

in the area of cross-cultural studies. She collaborated with

Alfred Métraux Alfred Métraux (; 5 November 1902 – 12 April 1963) was a Swiss and Argentine anthropologist, ethnologist and human rights leader. Early life Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Métraux spent much of his childhood in Argentina where his father was ...

on mutual studies of

Haitian voodoo Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. The ...

. She also studied the

Iatmul people The Iatmul are a large ethnic group of about 10,000 people inhabiting some two-dozen politically autonomous villages along the middle Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. The communities are roughly grouped according to dialect of the Iatmul langua ...

of the middle

Sepik River The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the third largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River, Fly and Mamberamo River, Mamberamo. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provi ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and made three fieldwork trips to Tambunum village of 6-7 months each in 1967-1968, 1971, and 1972-1973 that focused on music. During one of her studies, Métraux administered the Lowenfeld Mosaic Test in Tambunum, developed by a Margaret Lowenfeld. Additionally, Métraux did fieldwork in Mexico, Argentina, and Montserrat in the West Indies and enrolled at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

to study for her doctorate under the tutelage of

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology. ...

. During

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 ...

, Métraux headed the section on German morale for the US

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

(OSS). Métraux was also an important professional and personal partner of

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

(1901–1978). Together with Mead, she wrote several books and many articles on major issues from the 1950s to the late 1970s. As a contributing editor to ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...

'' magazine for well over a decade, both of them wrote many articles on contemporary issues, which largely appeared under Mead's name, that later formed the basis of a number of books, including ''A Way of Seeing''. Mead and Métraux were a close-knit professional team although Mead was intellectual force and gained the most public renown. Métraux tended to serve as the editor of many of Mead's publications. Both had been married, widowed at a young age and had a child. "Their status as mothers and ex-wives offered them a gentile facade behind which to conceal what may also have been a sexual relationship." They shared a house in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

from 1955 to 1966 and an apartment on

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

from 1966 until Mead's death in 1978. Métraux's papers are deposited in the Manuscript Division of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Selected works

;Sole author *1943, Qualitative Attitude Analysis: A Technique for the Study of Verbal Behavior. ''National Research Council Bulletin'' #108. Pp. 86-94. Washington, DC: National Academy of the Sciences. *1952, Some Aspects of Hierarchical Structure in Haiti. In ''Acculturation in the Americas''. Sol Tax, ed. Pp. 185-194. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1952, Affiliations through Work in Marbial, Haiti. ''Primitive Man'' 25:1-22. *1955, Parents and Children: An Analysis of Contemporary German Child-Care and Youth-Guidance Literature. In ''Childhood in Contemporary Cultures''. Margaret Mead and Martha Wolfenstein, eds. Pp. 204-228. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1955, A Portrait of the Family in German Juvenile Fiction. In ''Childhood in Contemporary Cultures''. Margaret Mead and Martha Wolfenstein, eds. Pp. 253-276. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1955, The Consequences of Wrongdoing: An Analysis of Story Completions by German Children. In ''Childhood in Contemporary Cultures''. Margaret Mead and Martha Wolfenstein, eds Pp. 306-323. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1976, "Eidos and Change: Continuity in Process, Discontinuity in Product." In ''Socialization in Cultural Communication'', T. Schwartz, ed. pp. 201 16. Berkeley: University of California Press. *1978, *"Aristocracy and Meritocracy: Leadership among the Eastern Iatmul." ''Anthropological Quarterly'' 51 (1978) 47 58. *1990, "Music in Tambunum." In ''Sepik Heritage: Tradition and Change in Papua New Guinea'', N. Lutkehaus et al., eds. pp. 523 34. Durham: Carolina Academic Press. ;Works with

: *1953, ''The Study of Culture at a Distance'' (eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1954, ''Themes in French Culture: A Preface to a Study of French Community''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. *1970, ''A Way of Seeing''. New York: McCall. ;Works with others: *1957 Normal and Deviant Behavior in a Peasant Community: Montserrat, B.W.I. ''American Journal of Orthopsychiatry'' 27:167-184. *Abel, Theodora, and Rhoda Métraux, 1959, Sex Differences in a Negro Peasant Community, Montserrat, B.W.I. ''Journal of Projective Techniques'' 23:127-133. *Abel, Theodora, Rhoda Métraux, and Samuel Roll, 1987, ''Psychotherapy and Culture''. Rev. and expanded ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

References

External links

Rhoda Métraux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metraux, Rhoda 1914 births 2003 deaths Cultural anthropologists People from Greenwich Village People from the Upper West Side