Verrier Elwin
British anthropologist (1902-1964)
Harry Verrier Holman Elwin (29 August 1902 – 22 February 1964) was a British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist. He is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India. He later also worked on the tribals of several North East Indian states especially North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA).
Elwin served as the deputy director of the Anthropological Survey of India upon its formation in 1945. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru later appointed Elwin as an adviser on tribal affairs for north-eastern India, and went on to become the Anthropological Adviser to the Government of NEFA. He was awarded the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Elwin was a prolific researcher and writer. His autobiography, The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin, posthumously won him the 1965 Sahitya Akademi Award in English Language.
Early life and education
Harry Verrier Holman Elwin was born on 29 August 1902 in Dover. He was the son of Edmund Henry Elwin, then the Anglican bishop of Sierra Leone. Harry was educated at Dean Close School and Merton College, Oxford, where he received his degrees of BA First Class in English Language and Literature, MA, and DSc.
The public source identifies “Verrier Elwin” as british anthropologist (1902-1964). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Verrier, Elwin and British.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3556093. VIAF identifies the subject as 12307841. The Library of Congress control number is n50009609. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1902, 1964, 1945 and 1965.
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This entry incorporates text from “Verrier Elwin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.