author
George Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers
1890–1966
Born into the famous Pitt-Rivers family, this British anthropologist wrote on peoples and cultures in the South Pacific before his public life took a darker turn. He is now remembered as much for his scholarship as for the extremist politics that led to his internment during the Second World War.
1 Audiobook
Conscience & Fanaticism: An Essay on Moral Values
by George Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers
About the author
George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (22 May 1890 – 17 June 1966) was a British anthropologist, writer, and wealthy landowner. He came from the influential Pitt-Rivers family, whose name was already well known in anthropology and archaeology, and he built an early reputation through research and published work connected with ethnography and the South Pacific.
His career later moved away from academic promise and into political extremism. Sources consistently describe him as a supporter of far-right causes, including anti-Bolshevik and antisemitic movements, and note that his links to British fascism led to his internment by the British government during the Second World War.
That combination makes him a difficult and controversial figure to place. He belongs to the history of anthropology, but his life is also a reminder of how intellectual standing and social privilege could become entangled with some of the most destructive political ideas of the 20th century.