Alfred C. (Alfred Cort) Haddon

Born in London on 24 May 1855, Alfred Cort Haddon began his career in natural science, studying at Christ's College, Cambridge, and later teaching and working in zoology. A trip to the Torres Strait in the late 1880s shifted his interests toward anthropology, where he became convinced that firsthand study of living communities was essential.

Haddon went on to organize the 1898 Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait, a project that became famous for its detailed, collaborative field research. His work helped shape modern British anthropology, and at Cambridge he was a central teacher and organizer for the subject for many years.

He also wrote widely for both specialists and general readers, with books on ethnography, race, and the history of anthropology. Haddon died in Cambridge on 20 April 1940, remembered as one of the people who helped establish anthropology as a serious academic discipline in Britain.