Trude Scarlett Epstein (1922 – 2014), née Grünwald, was a British-Austrian

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 ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, and a member of the "Manchester School" of anthropology.

Life and work

Trude Grünwald, born 13 July 1922 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to a Jewish family, she was the daughter of the travelling salesman Siegfried Grünwald and Rosa Grünwald. She had two brothers and grew up in the Karl-Marx-Hof housing complex. She was a student at the Glasergasse high school in the ninth district in 1938, when she and her family became refugees following the Nazi annexation of Austria. She has described how "she and all the other Jewish students had been chased out of school in 1938 amid great jeering." In July 1938, she travelled first to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia with her mother (her two brothers had already arrived in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England). Then in September 1938 they moved to

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

in Albania, and in April 1939 to London. There she found work taking a variety of jobs, and she began her university studies: economics and political science in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and development economics and anthropology in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. She completed a PhD in economics under the supervision of social anthropologist

Max Gluckman Herman Max Gluckman (; 26 January 1911 – 13 April 1975) was a South African and British social anthropologist. He is best known as the founder of the Manchester School of anthropology. Biography and major works Gluckman was born in Joha ...

, the founder of the "Manchester School". Described as one of the "pioneers" of

development studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the ...

, her work focused in particular on rural economies and women's activities, and drew on fieldwork in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

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 ...

. According to an obituary, Epstein became "one of the world's most recognized social anthropologists and taught at various universities in England, Australia, the USA, Israel, Papua New Guinea and India". Her final residence was in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

, England. She died on April 27, 2014 at the age of 92.

Private life

She was married to social anthropologist Arnold Bill Epstein, another member of the "Manchester School", and they had two daughters.

Selected bibliography

References

External links

Arnold Leonard and T. Scarlett Epstein Papers
at the

Online Archive of California In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, T. Scarlett 1922 births 2014 deaths Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom Social anthropologists British development economists Alumni of the University of Manchester British anthropologists British women anthropologists British women economists Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire