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Diamond Jenness, CC FRCGS (1886, Wellington, New Zealand – 1969, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada) was a pioneer of Canadian anthropology. Jenness graduated from Victoria College in 1908 and then earned a master’s degree in anthropology from Oxford University. In 1911, he won an appointment as Oxford Scholar to Papua New Guinea, where he studied people of the Northern D’Entrecasteaux islands for a year. Jenness gained international acclaim for his meticulous descriptions of early post-contact Inuinnait life in the Coronation Gulf region — research he began as a member of the 1913–1918 Canadian Arctic Expedition. Jenness was also known for his archaeological discoveries of the ancient Dorset and Old Bering Sea cultures. In 1926, Jenness was appointed Chief of Anthropology at the National Museum of Canada. He published over 100 books and articles on Inuit-state relations, ethnology, linguistics, archaeology and anthropology.

Born: 1886
Died: 1969