Sir James George Frazer

Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941), British anthropologist, born in Glasgow, Scotland, and educated at the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge. He was elected a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1879, and was made a professor of social anthropology at the University of Liverpool in 1907. Frazer's work covered a wide area of anthropological research, but he was especially interested in the study of myth and religion. He is best known for his book The Golden Bough (1890), a study of ancient cults, rites, and myths and their parallels with early Christianity. This book, which established Frazer's reputation as a distinguished scholar, was expanded to 13 volumes in 1915. Frazer was knighted in 1914. He wrote many other works, including Totemism and Exogamy (1910), Man, God, and Immortality (1927), and Creation and Evolution in Primitive Cosmogonies (1935).