Benedict, Ruth Fulton (1887-1948), was an American anthropologist who made important contributions to understanding the formation of personalities in different societies. Benedict applied many concepts of psychoanalysis toward the study of human culture, thereby helping develop the field of psychological anthropology.
Ruth Fulton was born in New York City on June 5, 1887. She studied literature at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, graduating in 1909. In 1914, she married Stanley Benedict, a professor at Columbia University in New York City. She received a Ph.D. degree in anthropology in 1922. In the 1920’s, while at Columbia, she and her mentor, the German-born anthropologist Franz Boas, laid the foundation for American anthropology.
During World War II (1939-1945), Ruth Benedict advised the United States government on Japanese culture. Her writings include Patterns of Culture (1934), Zuni Mythology (1935), Race, Science, and Politics (1940), and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture(1946). Benedict died on Sept. 17, 1948.
