Bunzel, Ruth (1898–1990)
Bunzel, Ruth (1898–1990)
American cultural anthropologist. Name variations: Maiatitsa (blue bird); Tsatitsa. Born Ruth Leah Bunzel, April 18, 1898, in New York, NY; died Jan 14, 1990, in New York; dau. of Jonas Bunzel and Hattie Bernheim Bunzel; sister of Madeleine Bunzel; Barnard College, degree in European history, 1918; Columbia University, PhD, 1927.
Known for her culture-and-personality studies and her work with female Zuni potters and on Pueblo ceremonialism, became secretary to Franz Boas at Columbia University (c. 1924); traveled with Ruth Benedict to Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico (1924), where she studied Pueblo potters; received Zuni names Maiatitsa (blue bird) and Tsatitsa; published The Pueblo Potter (1929), which became a classic; was part of a group of women anthropologists at Columbia, including Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Elsie Clews Parsons; spent 5 summers and several winters at Zuni (1924–29); did field work in Mexico and was among the 1st US anthropologists to work in and write about Guatemala; during WWII, worked for Office of War Information.