Lewis Morgan

Anthropologist

Birthday November 21, 1818

Birth Sign Scorpio

Birthplace Auroa, NY

DEATH DATE Dec 17, 1881 (63)

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About

Remembered best for his pioneering anthropological research on social structure and relationships, Morgan proposed the notion that matrilineal (rather than patriarchal) social organization was the first domestic structure in human history.

Before Fame

He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1840.

Trivia

A politician and attorney as well as an anthropologist, he served in the New York State Assembly and the New York Senate and was the chief lawyer for the Bay de Noquet and Marquette Railroad Company.

Family Life

His marriage to Mary Elizabeth Steele resulted in children named Lemuel, Mary, and Helen.

Associated With

He influenced the work of his famous contemporary and fellow social theorist Karl Marx.