Portrait of Alfred Radcliffe-Brown

Birthday profile

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown

British anthropologist (1881–1955)

Born
January 17, 1881
Died
October 24, 1955
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1881

About Alfred Radcliffe-Brown

Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown (né Brown; 17 January 1881 – 24 October 1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped develop the theory of structural functionalism. He performed fieldwork in the Andaman Islands and Western Australia, which became the basis of his later books. He had academic appointments at universities in Cape Town, Sydney, Chicago, and Oxford, and sought to model the topic of anthropology after the natural sciences. == Biography == Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown was born Alfred Reginald Brown in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England, the second son of Alfred Brown (d.1886), a manufacturer's clerk, and Hannah Brown (née Radcliffe). He later changed his surname, by deed poll, to Radcliffe-Brown, Radcliffe being his mother's maiden name. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1905; M.A., 1909), graduating with first-class honours in the moral sciences tripos. At Trinity College, he was elected Anthony Wilkin student in 1906 and 1909. While still a student, he earned the nickname "Anarchy Brown" for his close interest in the writings of the anarcho-communist and scientist Peter Kropotkin. Like other young men with blood in their veins, I wanted to do something to reform the world – to get rid of poverty and war, and so on. So I read Godwin, Proudhon, Marx and innumerable others.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Alfred Radcliffe-Brown was born

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown was born in 1881. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlinePresident Garfield assassinated
  • Technology milestoneFirst electric power plant (Godalming, England)
  • World population~1.41B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJames A. Garfield / Chester A. Arthur
  • U.S. population51.0M

1881 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Alfred Radcliffe-Brown's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18812026
Population51.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

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