ONE of the few western scholars who who did extensive research works in colonial and post-colonial Africa, Prof. Ottenberg, has passed on.
He died at the very advanced age of 100 in the United States of America (USA).
Author of several seminal works, Ottenberg devoted over 71 years to anthropological studies of African cultures, particularly in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. He was an emeritus professor at the University of Washington. After his doctoral degree fieldwork among the Afikpo people of Igbo Nation, he wrote his most referenced work, Double Descent in an African Society, which is considered a pace-setter in that category of kinship studies.
Ottenberg spent the later part of his career exploring the interstices of anthropology and African modern art. His book New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group is a regularly cited study on the subject.
In recognition and tribute to his life and acclaimed status in the academia, the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (IAS-UNN), last Tuesday, organised a conference and Google Meet on his life and his works.
Director of IAS-UNN, Prof. Ozioma Onuchukwu said a published documentation of the tributes and commentaries will soon be made public.
