Rhoda Bubendey Métraux
Dr. Rhoda Bubendey Metraux (1914–2003), was a prominent anthropologist in the area of cross-cultural studies, specializing in Haitian voodoo and the Iatmul of New Guinea. She collaborated with Alfred Metraux, on mutual studies of Voodoo in Haiti. During World War II, Dr. Metraux headed the section on German morale for the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
Rhoda Metraux 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. As a contributing editor to Redbook magazine for well over a decade, both wrote many articles on contemporary issues that later formed the basis of a number of books including A Way of Seeing. Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux were in fact a close-knit professional team whose work greatly influenced American anthropology in the late 20th century. They shared a house in Greenwich Village in New York from 1955 to 1966 and an apartment on Central Park West from 1966 until Mead's death in 1978.
Important works
- The Study of Culture at a Distance (1953)
- Themes of French Culture (1954)
- Culture and Psychotherapy (1974)
- A Way of Seeing (1975)
