21 Facts About Verrier Elwin

Harry Verrier Holman Elwin was a British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist.

Verrier Elwin is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India.

Verrier Elwin later worked on the tribals of several North East Indian states especially North-East Frontier Agency.

Verrier Elwin was awarded the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.

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

Verrier Elwin was the son of Edmund Henry Elwin, then the Anglican bishop of Sierra Leone.

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

In 1926 Verrier Elwin was appointed Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and in the following year he became a chaplain at Merton College, Oxford.

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.

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

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

On 4 April 1940 Verrier Elwin married Kaushalaya from the Gond tribe, living in Raythwar village of present-day Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh, with whom he lived and worked.

Verrier Elwin married Kosi under the Special Marriage Act, 1872 by what he called 'love marriage by capture.

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".

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.

In January 1954, Verrier Elwin became the first foreigner to become an Indian citizen.

Many of Verrier Elwin's books were subsidised and not profitable for publishers.