Chagnon, Napoleon Alphonseau (1938-2019), was an American anthropologist known for his studies of the Yanomami (also spelled Yanomamo). The Yanomami are a people who inhabit the tropical rain forest of Venezuela and Brazil and whose way of life had been relatively unchanged by contact with Western culture. Chagnon emphasized the role of biology in understanding human behavior and culture, a view known as sociobiology. His explanation of the intense warfare among the Yanomami focused mostly on competition over women. However, not all anthropologists accept this explanation.
Chagnon was born in Port Austin, Michigan, on Aug. 27, 1938. He studied anthropology at the University of Michigan, receiving his B.A. degree in 1961 and his Ph.D. degree in 1966. He held positions at the University of Michigan, Pennsylvania State University, and Northwestern University. In 1984, he became professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He retired in 1999. His best known book is Yanomamo: The Fierce People (1968). He died on Sept. 21, 2019.
