Rhodes-Livingstone Institute

institution, Africa

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Last updated

July 13, 2026

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The Rhodes-Livingstone Institute was established in 1938 in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) as the first anthropological research facility in an African colony. British anthropologist Godfrey Wilson was its first director. He and his wife, Monica Hunter Wilson, studied social changes in British colonies like Tanganyika, Nyasaland, and Northern Rhodesia, focusing on the impacts of industrialization. Their work examined how rapid economic, political, and cultural shifts affected African societies. The institute's research aimed to understand the social conditions arising from these transformations in colonial Africa.1

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Godfrey Wilson
…the first director of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). The institute was the first local anthropological research facility to be set up in an African colony. Wilson and his wife, Monica Hunter Wilson, worked as a team in their examination of social conditions resulting from the rapid…
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…the first director of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). The institute was the first local anthropological research facility to be set up in an African colony. Wilson and his wife, Monica Hunter Wilson, worked as a team in their examination of social conditions resulting from the rapid…
Read More