ANTHROPOLOGIST

Napoleon Chagnon

1938 - 2019

Photo of Napoleon Chagnon

Icon of person Napoleon Chagnon

Napoleon Alphonseau Chagnon (27 August 1938 – 21 September 2019) was an American cultural anthropologist, professor of sociocultural anthropology at the University of Missouri in Columbia and member of the National Academy of Sciences. Chagnon was known for his long-term ethnographic field work among the Yanomamö/Yanomami, a society of indigenous tribal Amazonians, in which he used an evolutionary approach to understand social behavior in terms of genetic relatedness. His work centered on the analysis of violence among tribal peoples, and, using socio-biological analyses, he advanced the argument that violence among the Yanomami is fueled by an evolutionary process in which successful warriors have more offspring. His 1967 ethnography Yanomamö: The Fierce People became a bestseller and is frequently assigned in introductory anthropology courses. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Napoleon Chagnon is the 88th most popular anthropologist (down from 87th in 2019), the 10,288th most popular biography from United States (up from 10,509th in 2019) and the 24th most popular American Anthropologist.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Napoleon Chagnon by language

Loading...

Among ANTHROPOLOGISTS

Among anthropologists, Napoleon Chagnon ranks 88 out of 93. Before him are Françoise Héritier, Grete Mostny, Marcellin Boule, Marilyn Strathern, Carleton S. Coon, and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. After him are Eugenie Scott, W. H. R. Rivers, Chris Stringer, John Tooby, and Alice Roberts.

Most Popular Anthropologists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1938, Napoleon Chagnon ranks 538. Before him are Rita Achkina, Achim Müller, Heidi Schmid, Marilyn Ferguson, Carlos Contreras, and Luisa Valenzuela. After him are Anne Buttimer, Nikolai Manoshin, John Hansen, Alberto Orlando, Humberto Donoso, and Hayes Jones. Among people deceased in 2019, Napoleon Chagnon ranks 489. Before him are Bruno Nicolè, Aleksey Buldakov, Basil Heatley, Edward Seaga, Raymond Leppard, and Žarko Varajić. After him are Roky Erickson, Djimrangar Dadnadji, Gennadi Manakov, Carmine Caridi, Marie Senghor Basse, and Jeon Mi-seon.

Others Born in 1938

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 2019

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, Napoleon Chagnon ranks 10,290 out of 20,380. Before him are Steven Saylor (1956), William Stanley Haseltine (1835), James Broderick (1927), Jobyna Ralston (1899), Eric Douglas (1958), and Hugh Wilson (1943). After him are Ken Shamrock (1964), Joe Manchin (1947), Pam Shriver (1962), Tara Westover (1986), Sue Carol (1906), and Marguerite De La Motte (1902).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ANTHROPOLOGISTS In United States

Among anthropologists born in United States, Napoleon Chagnon ranks 24. Before him are Michael Harner (1929), Madison Grant (1865), Julian Steward (1902), Melville J. Herskovits (1895), George Murdock (1897), and Carleton S. Coon (1904). After him are Eugenie Scott (1945), and John Tooby (1952).

American born Anthropologists

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous