Victor Barnouw was born on May 25, 1915 in Hague Netherlands. He is the son of Adriaan Jacob and Anne E. (Midgely) Barnouw. Victor Barnouw came to the United States in 1919 and became a naturalized citizen in 1924. He is the husband of Sachiko Miyagawa; they were married on January 7, 1964. May 8, 1989, a few weeks shy of his 75th birthday, he died of pancreatic cancer. He was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the time of his death. Victor Barnouw was a professor of anthropology who is famous for his writing on culture-and-personality. Victor Barnouw attended Horace Mann School from 1927-1933. From 1933-1935, he was enrolled at Princeton University. Between 1935 and 1937, he studied at the National Academy of Design. Victor Barnouw then went on to complete his undergraduate studies at Columbia College were he received his A.B. with honors and his Ph.D. in 1940.
Victor Barnouw started his career as an instructor in anthropology, in Brooklyn, New York from 1945-1948. He then went on as a visiting assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Buffalo, New York from 1948-1951. From 1951-1953, he did postdoctoral study at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of South Asia Regional Studies were he did research in South Asia and India. Between 1953 and 1954, he taught at a private school in Verde Valley, Arizona. He was a research associate at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign from 1955-1956 and was a visiting assistant professor of anthropology from 1956-1957. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was an assistant professor from 1958-1961, professor of anthropology from 1960 to the time of his death, head of the department from 1976-1979, professor emeritus from 1982 to the time of his death.
Victor Barnouw was also a fellow member of the American Anthropological Association. He was awarded the Sterling Award from the American Anthropological Association in 1968 for his “Cross-Cultural-Research With the House-Tree-Person test,” a study related to culture-and-personality. Victor Barnouw is an author of many books, from fiction to non-fiction all that are described as “anthropological” in nature and related to his word as a professor. His writings include Dream of the Blue Heron a fictional novel for young adults, Culture and Personality, Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales and Their Relation to Chippewa Life, and Anthropology: A General Introduction, among many others.
The fictional novel for young adults, Dream of the Blue Heron published in 1966, is considered to be his major effort in fiction. Victor Barnouw personally quotes, “Although my main profession has been teaching anthropology, I have also written fiction. My novel, Dream of the Blue Heron, was my major effort in this field. My fiction is ‘anthropological,’ usually being related to my fieldwork. The novel, for instance, is about a Chippewa Indian boy.”
Another one of Victor Barnouw’s most famous works is Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales and Their Relation to Chippewa Life published in 1977. This book was the first collection of Chippewa folklore that was able to provide a comparative and sociological context for the tales and myths of the Wisconsin Chippewa life. The myths that fill this book were recorded between 1941 and 1944 by four young field workers who later became anthropologists, including Victor Barnouw. Victor Barnouw is remembered as a person of warmth, humor, modesty, and talent. He published both short stories and a novel; but it was to anthropology which he devoted his life.
Bernard, Russell, Victor Barnouw, Obituary, American Anthropologist, Vol. 92, American Anthropologist Association, Washington, D.C., 1990
Commire, Anne. Something About the Author, Vol 28/43, Gale Research Company, Detroit Michigan, 1982 & 1990
Locher, Frances Carlos Contemporary Authors, Vol. 85-88, Gale Research Company, Detroit Michigan, 1980
Written By: Kimberly Hoffstatter