Bateson, Gregory

Bateson, Gregory

(born May 9, 1904, Grantchester, Eng.—died July 4, 1980, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) British-born U.S. anthropologist. Son of British biologist William Bateson, he studied anthropology at Cambridge University but soon thereafter moved to the U.S. His most important book, Naven (1936), was a groundbreaking study of cultural symbolism and ritual based on fieldwork in New Guinea. From 1936 to 1950 he was married to Margaret Mead, with whom he studied the connection between culture and personality, publishing Balinese Character in 1942. His interests broadened to include problems of learning and communication among schizophrenics. His last book, Mind and Nature (1978), synthesized many of his ideas.

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Bateson, Gregory (1904–80) cultural anthropologist; born in Grantchester, England. A scientist's son, he studied biology and psychology before turning to anthropology at Cambridge University in England. He emigrated to the United States and made his career there. His first major work, Naven, a study of ritual and symbolism based on fieldwork in New Guinea, appeared in 1936. With Margaret Mead, to whom he was married (1936–50), he was involved in the culture and personality movement. He later studied problems of communication and learning among aquatic mammals and human schizophrenics and published his final work, Mind and Nature, in 1978.