Jacqueline Roumeguere-Eberhardt

Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt (27 November 1927 – 29 March 2006) was a French anthropologist (born South African), research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Africa specialist. She conducted pioneering research in Southern Africa (among the Venda, Tsonga, Shona, Lozi, Bushmen), Central (among the Gbaya) and Kenya (among the Maasai, Samburu, El Molo, Rendille and unidentified hominids), which led her to develop the project "Totemic Geography of Africa "(TGA). During her career, she has collected valuable fieldwork material (interviews, notes, audio and audiovisual recordings, photographs, objects) which now constitute a substantial archive. She is the author of numerous scientific publications (articles, books and movies) in French and English.

Education

Pretoria Girls' High School

March 1948 : BA Social Studies (Rand), Max Pollack Prize

December 1949 : M.A With Distinction (Rand)

1950/1954 : Post Graduate Studies at La Sorbonne and EPHE (Paris) in Social Anthropology and Phylosophy with professors : Georges Gurvitch, Gaston Bachelard, Maurice Leenhardt, Marcel Griaule, Claude Lévi-Strauss (who published her first book in his Collection « 1'Homme» )

December 1954 – 2002: Researcher at the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research)

Biography (short)

Scientific aspects

Languages

French, English, Maasai, Venda, Tsonga, Afrikaans, Sotho/Pedi/Tswana, Spanish, Portuguese, Kalanga/Karanga(Shona), Gbaya, Gukwe, Kiswahili

Fieldwork

• 1954 : Venda, Tsonga (participated at the Khomba and Domba schools), South Africa
• 1958-1962 : Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kalahari
• 1963 : Gbaya (Central Africa Republic)
• 1966/1992/1993 : Lozi, Zambia
• 1966-2002: Maasai and Samburu, Kenya
• 1972-1979/1987-2002 : Rendille, Kenya

Family

Family status : three children : Isabelle, Caroline, Georges.

Filmography

The Python Uncoils, The Domba filmed in 1960, 16 mm, color, 1982–84, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt, Production: Azakili Films and Cnrs

The Oxe Of The Moon Crescent Horns, 16 mm, color, 1985, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt, Co-Production: Azakili Films / A2 (French Channel)

Self Control, 16 mm, color, 33mn, 1985, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt and Isabelle Roumeguère, Production: Azakili Films and Cnrs,

Farewell Great Maasai Warriors, 16 mm, color, 19 mn, 1987, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt, Production : Azakili Films

From Warriors To Traders, 16 mm, color, 52 mn, 1987, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt and Meitamei Ole Kapusia, Production: Azakili Films and Fr3

Eunoto, A Maasai Ceremony, 16 mm, color, 52 mn, 1987 Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt And Meitamei Ole Kapusia, Production: Azakili Films And Fr3

Zimbabwe Rituals (4 Films): ZCC, Childrens Games, Drums Cure, Rain Dancers, 1960/1988, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt, Production: Azakili Films

Parallel Lives, 16 mm, Color, 52 mn, 1991, Film Director : Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt, Production : Azakili Films

Films nominated for Festivals :

• La Mostra, Venise, 1985
• Margaret Mead Film Festival, American Museum Ofnatural History, 1985
• Festival du Film Ethnologique, Musée De L'homme, Paris, 1985
• London Film Festival, 1984 Et 1986
• Festival du Film Psy, Loriquin, 1985
• Festival du Film Sociologique, Bruxelles, 1986, 1993
• President of the Henri Langlois Documentary Film Festival 1990

Sources

Roumeguère, Isabelle & Zanger, Pierre, Memorendum, Jacqueline Roumegère-Eberhardt, Revue d'Outres-Mer, 2006 (to be precised)

More details on the French page (detailed biography, bibliography): Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt