Charles Gabriel Seligman
Encyclopedia
Charles Gabriel Seligman FRS (24 December 1873 – 19 September 1940) was a British
ethnologist. Born in London
, Seligman studied medicine at St. Thomas' Hospital.
After several years as a physician and pathologist, Seligman volunteered his services to the 1898 Cambridge University expedition to the Torres Strait. Later, he joined expeditions to New Guinea
(1904), Ceylon (1906-1908), and Sudan
(1909-1912, again in 1921-1922). In 1905 he married Brenda Zara Salaman, who accompanied him on many of his expeditions and who he credited in his publications.
He served as chair of Ethnology at the University of London
from 1913 to 1934.
, which held that caucasian North African "hamites" were responsible for all significant cultural developments in Africa. In his book The Races of Africa (1930) he wrote:
Seligman asserted that the Negro race was essentially static and agricultural, but that the wandering Hamitic "pastoral Caucasians" had introduced most of the advanced features found in central African cultures, including metal working, irrigation and complex social structures.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
ethnologist. Born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Seligman studied medicine at St. Thomas' Hospital.
After several years as a physician and pathologist, Seligman volunteered his services to the 1898 Cambridge University expedition to the Torres Strait. Later, he joined expeditions to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
(1904), Ceylon (1906-1908), and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
(1909-1912, again in 1921-1922). In 1905 he married Brenda Zara Salaman, who accompanied him on many of his expeditions and who he credited in his publications.
He served as chair of Ethnology at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
from 1913 to 1934.
Hamites
Seligman was an assiduous proponent of Hamitic theoryHamitic
Hamitic is an historical term for the peoples supposedly descended from Noah's son Ham, paralleling Semitic and Japhetic.It was formerly used for grouping the non-Semitic Afroasiatic languages , but since, unlike the Semitic branch, these have not been shown to form a phylogenetic unity, the term...
, which held that caucasian North African "hamites" were responsible for all significant cultural developments in Africa. In his book The Races of Africa (1930) he wrote:
"Apart from relatively late Semitic influence...the civilizations of Africa are the civilizations of the Hamites, its history is the record of these peoples and of their interaction with the two other African stocks, the NegroNegroThe word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
and the BushmenBushmenThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
, whether this influence was exerted by highly civilized Egyptians or by such wider pastoralists as are represented at the present day by the BejaBeja peopleThe Beja people are an ethnic group dwelling in parts of North Africa and the Horn of Africa.-Geography:The Beja are found mostly in Sudan, but also in parts of Eritrea, and Egypt...
and Somali....The incoming Hamites were pastoral 'Europeans' - arriving wave after wave - better armed as well as quicker witted than the dark agricultural Negroes."
Seligman asserted that the Negro race was essentially static and agricultural, but that the wandering Hamitic "pastoral Caucasians" had introduced most of the advanced features found in central African cultures, including metal working, irrigation and complex social structures.
Selected works
- Melanesians of British New Guinea (1910)
- The Veddas (1911)
- Races of Africa (1930)
- The Pagan Tribes of Nilotic Sudan (1932)
External links
- Seligman biography at Minnesota Sate University EMuseum
- Catalogue of the Seligman papers at the Archives Division of the London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.