25 Facts About Phillip Tobias

Phillip Tobias was best known for his work at South Africa's hominid fossil sites.

Phillip Tobias was an activist for the eradication of apartheid and gave numerous anti-apartheid speeches at protest rallies and to academic audiences.

Phillip Tobias graduated in Medicine, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1950.

Phillip Tobias was appointed as a lecturer in anatomy in 1951.

In 1955, Tobias started his post-graduate research at the University of Cambridge, England, where he filled the position of Nuffield Dominion Senior Traveling Fellow in physical anthropology.

Phillip Tobias was Dean of Medicine from 1980 to 1982.

Phillip Tobias was appointed Honorary Professor of Palaeoanthropology at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research in 1977 and Honorary Professor in Zoology in 1981.

Also in 1981, Phillip Tobias became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.

Phillip Tobias excavated at the Sterkfontein caves and worked at almost all other major sites in Southern Africa after 1945.

Phillip Tobias opened some 25 archaeological sites in Botswana during the French Panhard-Capricorn Expedition while conducting a biological survey of the Tonga People of Zimbabwe.

Phillip Tobias was one of the anthropologists instrumental in unmasking the Piltdown fraud.

Phillip Tobias's research has been mainly in the fields of paleoanthropology and the human biology of Africa's various populations.

Phillip Tobias has studied the Kalahari San, the Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and numerous peoples of Southern Africa.

Phillip Tobias is best known for his research on hominid fossils and human evolution, having studied and described hominid fossils from Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Phillip Tobias's best known work was on the hominids of East Africa, particularly those of the Olduvai Gorge.

Phillip Tobias is closely linked with the archaeological excavation at the Sterkfontein site, a research programme he initiated in 1966.

Phillip Tobias published in 1970 an article in which he questioned the link between brain-size, race and intelligence.

Phillip Tobias is one of South Africa's most honoured and decorated scientists, and a world leading expert on human prehistoric ancestors; he has been nominated three times for a Nobel Prize, received a dozen honorary doctorates and been awarded South Africa's Order for Meritorious Service.

Phillip Tobias published over 600 journal articles and authored or co-authored 33 books and edited or co-edited eight others.

Phillip Tobias has received honorary degrees from seventeen universities and other academic institutions in South Africa, the United States of America, Canada and Europe.

Phillip Tobias has been elected as a fellow, associate or honorary member of over 28 learned societies.

The Royal Society of South Africa is very sparing with its honours, and Phillip Tobias is one of only two South African Honorary Fellows of the Society and one of very few recipients of its senior medal, the John Herschel Medal.

Phillip Tobias has been a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Cambridge University and other institutions.

On 7 June 2012, Phillip Tobias died after a long illness, at a Johannesburg hospital aged 86.

Phillip Tobias was buried at the West Park Jewish Cemetery in Johannesburg on 10 June 2012.