Jump to content

Francis Korn

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francis Korn
Born
Silvia Francis Korn Litichver

(1935-07-14)14 July 1935
Died15 March 2024(2024-03-15) (aged 88)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
OccupationSociologist
SpouseEzequiel Gallo
ChildrenAt least 1
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (1973)
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe scientific status of Lévi-Strauss's theory of kinship (1974)
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
Sub-discipline
Institutions

Silvia Francis Korn Litichver (14 July 1935 – 15 March 2024) was an Argentine sociologist. The first Argentine anthropology doctoral graduate of the University of Oxford, she worked as a professor at the University of Buenos Aires, the University of Essex, and the Torcuato di Tella University. A 1973 Guggenheim Fellow and 2004 elected member of the National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires [es], she wrote on sociological theory and the history of Buenos Aires, including her 1973 book Elementary Structures Reconsidered.

Biography

[edit]

Early life and education

[edit]

Silvia Francis Korn Litichver[1] was born on 14 July 1935.[2] She was one of three children of Cecilia (née Litichver) and magazine editor Julio Korn [es], and her paternal grandfather was a Bessarabian Jewish immigrant.[1] One of her given names, Francis, was in honour of the French Revolution.[2]

Korn was educated at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), obtaining her licentiate in sociology in 1963.[3] After spending a year at UBA as a sociology lecturer (1965-1966), she later moved to the United Kingdom, where she obtained her Master in Teaching degree at the London School of Economics in 1966.[3] In 1970, she obtained her PhD in social anthropology at St Anne's College, Oxford,[3][2] becoming Oxford University's first Argentine anthropology doctoral graduate.[4] Her doctoral dissertation was titled The scientific status of Lévi-Strauss's theory of kinship.[5]

Academic career

[edit]

In 1970, Korn returned to UBA as chair of the department of sociology and as professor, serving in these positions until 1971 and 1972, respectively.[3][2] After working as an associate at the Torcuato di Tella Institute from 1971 until 1972, she began working as professor of sociology at Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and as a National Scientific and Technical Research Council investigator in 1972,[3][2] before eventually becoming an emeritus researcher at the latter.[4] She later started working at UBA as a professor, as well as at the University of Essex and the Torcuato di Tella University (UTDT),[2] remaining at the latter until 2015.[4] She was also the director of the Torcuato di Tella Institute Centre for Social Research and the National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires [es] Institute for Social Research.[4]

Korn's research was based on sociological theory and the history of Buenos Aires, particularly from 1880 until 1945.[2] In 1973, she published the book Elementary Structures Reconsidered, focusing on Claude Lévi-Strauss' kinship theories and based on her own Oxford thesis,[2][6] and she was appointed a Guggenheim Fellow "for a study of the social structure of Buenos Aires, 1920-1930".[7][3] Daniel Gigena of La Nación said that "she stood out as one of the intellectuals of the golden age of the world of ideas in Argentina from the 1960s onwards".[2] In 2004, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires [es].[8] Her books on the history of Buenos Aires included Buenos Aires: los invitados del 20 (1974), Buenos Aires, 1895: una ciudad moderna (1981), Buenos Aires: mundos particulares (2004), and Buenos Aires antes del Centenario (2010),[2][4] and at the time of her death, she had been working on a book about the history of Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1938, which was later left with a friend of hers, author Martín Oliver.[2]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Korn's husband Ezequiel Gallo was a historian and also a UTDT professor himself, as is her son Klaus Gallo [es].[2][4]

In addition to academia, Korn also wrote short stories, published in a book titled Más Amalias de las que se puede tolerar.[2] She was an opponent of the politicization of sociology.[2]

Korn died on 15 March 2024 in Buenos Aires; she was 88.[2]

Bibliography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Periodismo. El imperio de Julio Korn". Primera Plana. 8 June 1965. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gigena, Daniel (16 March 2024). "Adiós a una pionera: a los 88 años, murió la socióloga, investigadora y escritora Francis Korn". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Reports of the President and the Treasurer. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial. 1973. p. 145.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "IN MEMORIAM - Francis Korn (1935-2024)". Torcuato di Tella University (in Spanish). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ^ "The scientific status of Lévi-Strauss's theory of kinship". Bodleian Library. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  6. ^ "Elementary Structures Reconsidered: Levi-Strauss on Kinship". Routledge. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Francis Korn". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Dra. Francis Korn" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  9. ^ Wagner, Roy (1975). "Review of Elementary Structures Reconsidered: Lévi-Strauss on Kinship". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 84 (3): 386–389. ISSN 0032-4000 – via JSTOR.
  10. ^ Wilder, W. D. (1974). "Review of Elementary Structures Reconsidered: Lévi-Strauss on kinship". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 37 (3): 742–743. ISSN 0041-977X – via JSTOR.
  11. ^ Baily, Samuel L. (1984). "Review of Los Italianos en la Argentina". The International Migration Review. 18 (3): 831–832. doi:10.2307/2545909. ISSN 0197-9183 – via JSTOR.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_Korn&oldid=1261857755"