1906 – 1983
Meyer Fortes (1906–1983) was a South African-born British social anthropologist best known for his foundational work in African kinship, lineage theory, and political organization. A leading figure in British structural-functionalism, he conducted landmark fieldwork among the Tallensi of northern Ghana and the Ashanti of Ghana. His theoretical contributions shaped mid-twentieth century anthropology's understanding of descent, ancestor worship, and the relationship between kinship and social structure.
Developed influential theories of unilineal descent and lineage segmentation through Tallensi fieldwork
Co-edited African Political Systems (1940) with E. E. Evans-Pritchard, a foundational text in political anthropology
Advanced the concept of the 'developmental cycle of the domestic group' in family and household studies
Produced major ethnographic studies: The Dynamics of Clanship Among the Tallensi (1945) and The Web of Kinship Among the Tallensi (1949)
Held the William Wyse Chair of Social Anthropology at Cambridge, shaping a generation of Africanist scholars