23 Facts About Verrier Elwin

Harry Verrier Holman Elwin was a British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist, who began his career in India as a Christian missionary.

Verrier Elwin first abandoned the clergy, to work with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, then converted to Hinduism in 1935 after staying in a Gandhian ashram, and split with the nationalists over what he felt was an overhasty process of transformation and assimilation for the tribals.

Verrier Elwin is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India, and he married a 13 year old member of one of the communities he studied.

Verrier Elwin later worked on the tribals of several North East Indian states especially North-East Frontier Agency and settled in Shillong, the hill capital of Meghalaya.

Verrier Elwin served as the deputy director of the Anthropological Survey of India upon its formation in 1945.

Harry Verrier Holman Elwin was born on 29 August 1902 in Dover.

Verrier Elwin is the son of Edmund Henry Elwin, Bishop of Sierra Leone.

Verrier Elwin was educated at Dean Close School and Merton College, Oxford, where he received his degrees of BA First Class in English Language and Literature, MA, and DSc.

Verrier Elwin remained the President of Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union in 1925.

Verrier Elwin had a nice career at Oxford, where he took a Double First in English and in Theology, before being ordained a priest in the Church of England.

Verrier Elwin came to India in 1927, to join a small sect, the Christa Seva Sangh of Poona, which hoped to 'indigenise' Christianity.

Verrier Elwin went to India in 1927 as a missionary.

Verrier Elwin quickly threw in his lot with the Congress, winning Gandhi's affection and becoming a camp follower and occasional cheerleader to the popular movement against British rule.

In January 1954, Elwin became the first foreigner to be accepted as an Indian citizen.

Verrier Elwin died in 1964, a greatly esteemed public figure in his adopted land, the recipient of the Padma Bhushan and countless other medals and rewards.

Verrier Elwin participated in the Indian independence movement, and in 1930 Gandhi said he regarded Elwin as a son.

Verrier Elwin came out with numerous works on various tribal groups in India, the best acclaimed being those on Maria and Baigas.

Verrier Elwin was a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy.

Verrier Elwin entered into an agreement which prohibited the entry of Sadhus into Nagaland with Nehru.

Verrier Elwin married a Raj Gond tribal girl called Kosi who was a student at his school at Raythwar in Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh on 4 April 1940.

Verrier Elwin had an ex-parte divorce in 1949, at the Calcutta High Court, writing in his autobiography, "I cannot even now look back on this period of my life without a deep sense of pain and failure" In 2006, Kosi was still living in a hut in Raythwar, their son Kumar having died.

Verrier Elwin remarried a woman called Lila, belonging to the Pardhan Gond tribe in nearby Patangarh, moving with her to Shillong in the early 1950s.

Verrier Elwin died in Delhi on 22 February 1964 after a heart attack.