Rhoda Métraux

Rhoda Bubendey Métraux (18 October 1914, New York City – 26 November 2003, Barton, Vermont) was a prominent cultural anthropologist whose specialities were psychological anthropology and cross-cultural studies. She conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Haiti, Mexico, Argentina, Monteserrat, and Papua New Guinea, and was a prominent figure in "culture at a distance" studies of Germany, France, and Mexico, using literary and visual sources to write anthropological interpretations of culture. Topics of her research included "cultural imagery, national character, culture and psychotherapy, personality and culture, childhood, aging, culture change, [and] deviance." She was the co-author of Margaret Mead's regular writing in Redbook magazine, but this writing appeared under Mead's name until it was compiled in book form in 1970.

She collaborated with Alfred Métraux on joint studies of Haitian voodoo. She also studied the Iatmul people of the middle Sepik River in Papua New Guinea and made three fieldwork trips to Tambunum village of 6-7 months each in 1967-1968, 1971, and 1972-1973 that focused on music. During one of her studies, Métraux administered the Lowenfeld Mosaic Test in Tambunum, developed by a Margaret Lowenfeld. Additionally, Métraux did fieldwork in Mexico, Argentina, and Montserrat in the West Indies and enrolled at Yale University to study for her doctorate under the tutelage of Bronisław Malinowski. During World War II, Métraux headed the section on German morale for the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Métraux was also an important professional and personal partner of Margaret Mead (1901–1978). Together with Mead, she wrote several books and many articles on major issues from the 1950s to the late 1970s.