Hermann Amborn
- June 18, 2024
- 91 years
About Hermann Amborn
Hermann Amborn, 91, German anthropologist and ethnologist.
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Full Biography
|Hermann Amborn (11 April 1933 – 18 June 2024) was a German anthropologist and ethnologist. With a regional focus on northern and eastern Africa, Amborn's research addressed the political organisation of society, the division of labour, agricultural ethnology, and ethics in applied anthropological research.
Life and career
Amborn's father was a pastor who opposed the Nazi regime. As a young man, Amborn initially trained as a technical draftsman and engineer before changing fields. Amborn held visiting professorships in Hamburg and Berlin in addition to Kansas State University. He became a full professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1987, where he was made professor emeritus on retirement in 1998. From 1991 to 2001, Amborn was the ethics working group spokesperson for the German Anthropological Association (formerly Deutsche Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde, now: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie).
Amborn notably contributed to the study and discussion of African communities which self-govern outside of a statist framework through anti-hierarchical structures, without reliance on violent coercion in enforcing their rules and laws, and in line with anarchist principles. Mark Bray describes Amborn's work as "challenging the inevitability of the state as the "natural" outcome of societal evolution"
Amborn died in Munich on 18 June 2024, at the age of 91.
Selected works
- Die Bedeutung der Kulturen des Niltals für die Eisenproduktion im subsaharischen Afrika. (Dissertation) Studien zur Kulturkunde. Frobenius-Institut, Frankfurt 1976, ISBN 3515024115
- Differenzierung und Integration. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu Spezialisten und Handwerkern in südäthiopischen Agrargesellschaften. (Habilitationsschrift) Trickster, München 1990
- Unbequeme Ethik. Überlegungen zu einer verantwortlichen Ethnologie. Reimer, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3496025239
- Flexibel aus Tradition / Burji in Äthiopien und Kenia: Unter Verwendung der Aufzeichnungen von Helmut Straube / With explanation of some cultural items in English. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 3447060832
- Das Recht als Hort der Anarchie. Gesellschaften ohne Herrschaft und Staat. Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-95757-240-0. Materialien vom Autor dazu online
- 'Concepts in Wood and Stone - Socio-religious Monuments of the Konso of Southern Ethiopia', Zeitschrift für Ethnologi, 2002.
- Burji: Versatile by Tradition in Changing Identifications and Alliances in North-East Africa, Volume 1 edited by Günther Schlee and Elizabeth E. Watson. Berghahn Books, 2009.
- Mobility, Knowledge and Power: Craftsmen in the Borderland in Changing Identifications and Alliances in North-East Africa, Volume 1 edited by Günther Schlee and Elizabeth E. Watson. Berghahn Books, 2009.
- Law as Refuge of Anarchy: Societies without Hegemony or State. Untimely Meditations, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019.
Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Amborn
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
Trivia & Knowledge· 8 questions
Questions drawn from Hermann Amborn's archived record and the sources above.
1.In which year did Hermann Amborn die?
- A.2015
- B.2024correct
- C.2011
- D.2017
Hermann Amborn died in 2024.
Source: Profile: year of death: "ear of birth 1933. Archive record: age at death 91. Archive record: place of death Munich on. Archive record: occupation anthropologist and ethnologist. Archive reco
2.How old was Hermann Amborn when they died?
- A.86
- B.91correct
- C.103
- D.80
Hermann Amborn was 91 years old at the time of death.
Source: Profile: age at death: "of Anarchy: Societies without Hegemony or State. Untimely Meditations, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019. == Notes == Archive record: year of death 2024. Archive record:
3.In which year was Hermann Amborn born?
- A.1927
- B.1933correct
- C.1921
- D.1924
Hermann Amborn was born in 1933.
Source: Profile: year of birth: "ghahn Books, 2009. Law as Refuge of Anarchy: Societies without Hegemony or State. Untimely Meditations, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019. == Notes == Archive record: y
4.In which month did Hermann Amborn die?
- A.September
- B.August
- C.July
- D.Junecorrect
Hermann Amborn died in June.
Source: Archive record: date of death: "rd: year of birth 1933. Archive record: age at death 91. Archive record: place of death Munich on. Archive record: occupation anthropologist and ethnologist.
5.On which day of the month did Hermann Amborn die?
- A.19
- B.18correct
- C.20
- D.17
Hermann Amborn died on day 18 of the month.
Source: Archive record: date of death: "ecord: year of birth 1933. Archive record: age at death 91. Archive record: place of death Munich on. Archive record: occupation anthropologist and ethnologis
6.Where did Hermann Amborn die?
- A.Munich oncorrect
- B.Turin
- C.Marseille
- D.Kraków
Hermann Amborn died in Munich on.
Source: Biography: place of death: "emony or State. Untimely Meditations, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019. == Notes == Archive record: year of death 2024. Archive record: year of birth 1933. Archive
7.In which field was Hermann Amborn known?
- A.novelist
- B.anthropologist and ethnologistcorrect
- C.chemist
- D.architect
The biography describes Hermann Amborn as a anthropologist and ethnologist.
Source: Profile: occupation: ", MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019. == Notes == Archive record: year of death 2024. Archive record: year of birth 1933. Archive record: age at death 91. Archive record: p
8.What nationality was Hermann Amborn?
- A.Germancorrect
- B.American
- C.Australian
- D.Argentine
Hermann Amborn is recorded as German.
Source: Profile: nationality: "ecord: year of death 2024. Archive record: year of birth 1933. Archive record: age at death 91. Archive record: place of death Munich on. Archive record: occupation an
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