Colin Turnbull

Colin Macmillan Turnbull (November 23, 1924 - July 28, 1994) was a famous British anthropologist who gained prominence with his book The Forest People (1962), a detailed study of the Mbuti Pygmies. In 1972, he wrote his most controversial classic, The Mountain People, which portrayed Uganda's hunger-plagued Ik tribe. Turnbull was an unconventional scholar who rejected objectivity. He idealized the Mbuti and reviled the Ik, whom he recounted as so coldly self-absorbed that they allowed their children to die if they could not surviveafter kicking them out at the age of 12 and refused to share food with anyone, even gorging on the occasional excess of food until they got sick rather than save and/or share.

Related Topics:
November 23 - 1924 - July 28 - 1994 - Anthropologist - Pygmies - Uganda - Ik

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Turnbull became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1959, and lived in New York and Virginia with his professional collaborator and partner of 30 years, an African American Dr. Joseph Towles, as an openly gay and interracial couple. After his partner's death in 1988, Turnbull retreated to a Buddhist monastery where he lived out his remaining years under the name Lobsong Rigdol before his death in 1994. Both Drs. Towles and Turnbull died from the complications of AIDS.

Related Topics:
Naturalized citizen - United States - 1959 - New York - Virginia - African American - Gay - Interracial couple - Buddhist - AIDS

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