Jean Sybil La Fontaine#
Born: Nairobi,Kenya 1-11-31
Citizenship: British
Marital Status: Divorced, two daughters
EDUCATION
- 1942-1949 Kenya High School for Girls, Nairobi.
- 1950-1953 Newnham College, Cambridge, B.A.Hons.Archaeology & Anthropology: Class I
- 1955-1957 Newnham College, Cambridge. Ph.D.
SCHOLARSHIPS
- 1951 College Prize
- 1952-53 Alma Blakeman-Jones Scholar
- 1955-57 Gamble Scholar
- 1957-58 Harkness Foundation Fellow,University of Chicago
POSTS
- 1961 Part-time Lecturer, Dept.of Anthropology, King's College, Newcastle
- 1962-63 Lecturer in Anthropology, Lovanium University, Zaire (two courses taught in French,one in English)
- 1965-68 Lecturer in Anthropology, Birkbeck College,London
- 1968-78 Reader in Anthropology, London School of Economics
- 1978-83 Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics.
- 1983- Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics
- 1983- present Freelance research and writing
RESEARCH
- 1953-1955 E.Uganda – Ethnographic study of the Gisu of Mbale District
- 1962-63 Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo local politics and the ethnography of the city
- 1984-5 Library research – anthropological studies of the family and kinship for ESRC
- 1985-87 Great Ormond St Hospital London- child sexual abuse
- 1992-4 Satanic Ritual Abuse- funded by Dept. of Health
- 2007- Accusations of Witchcraft against Children in London
HONOURS
- 1971 Munro Lectures, University of Edinburgh
- 1973-77 Chairman, Association of Social Anthropologists of Great Britain and the Commonwealth
- 1976 Henry Myers Lecture, Royal Anthropological Institute
- 1983 Emeritus Professor of Anthropology London School of Economics
- 1985-1987 President, Royal Anthropological Institute.
- 1999 Honorary Doctorate, University of Linkoping, Sweden
- 2003 Honorary Doctorate, The Open University
- 2005 Saul Sidore Lecture University of New Hampshire, U.S.A.
- 2008-01-29 Hon.Research Fellow Information Network on Religious Movements (INFORM)
- 2008 D.Litt (Hon) Goldsmith’s London
CONSULTANCIES
- 1987 Family Planning in Tanzania Overseas Development Administration.
- Child Sexual Abuse, Economic & Social Research Council
- York's Future, City of York
- Family Planning, Overseas Development Administration
- Anthropological Perspectives on AIDS in Africa for NIAID/USAID
OTHER NON-ACADEMIC WORK
- various articles for popular magazines on anthropological subjects
- consultant for TV series; Face Values interviews on radio and television
- Member of various committees of Economic and Social Research Council including Research Grants Board.
- Chair of steering committee for housing project for mentally handicapped.
- Member,U.K. Advisory Committee Save The Children Fund
