James George Frazer

Born in Glasgow on January 1, 1854, James George Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist, folklorist, and classical scholar. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and later became a fellow of Trinity, where much of his academic life was centered.

Frazer is best remembered for The Golden Bough, first published in 1890 and greatly expanded in later editions. In that influential work, he compared myths, rituals, and religious practices from many cultures, helping to shape early modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.

Although some of his theories are no longer widely accepted, his work remained enormously important for writers, scholars, and readers interested in how people make meaning through story, ceremony, and belief. He died in Cambridge on May 7, 1941.