Maria Eugenia Bozzoli
{{short description|Costa Rican anthropologist, sociologist and activist}}
María Eugenia Bozzoli (also, María Eugenia Bozzoli Vargas and María Eugenia Bozzoli de Wille; born 26 May 1935, in San Marcos de Tarrazú) is a Costa Rican anthropologist, sociologist and human rights activist. She is one of the founders of anthropology in Costa Rica, as well as the country's first woman anthropologist.
Early years and education
Born in San Marcos de Tarrazú on 26 May 1935, Bozzoli is the daughter of Benilda Vargas Blanco and Fermin Bozzoli Zúñiga. She matriculated from San José's {{Interlanguage link|Colegio Superior de Señoritas|es}} in 1952. Bozzoli lived in the U.S. state of Kansas for six years in the 1950s during her studies at the University of Kansas (Bachelor's Degree, archaeology; Master's Degree, archaeology).{{cite journal|url=http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/439/43930403.pdf|title=Biobibliografía: María Eugenia Bozzoli Vargas|journal=Diálogos: Revista Electrónica de Historia|publisher=Diálogos Revista Electrónica de Historia, Vol. 3, No. 4|date=February 2003|access-date=4 February 2017 |language=Spanish|issn=1409-469X}}
Career
In 1959, Bozzoli became a professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Costa Rica.{{cite web|title=María Eugenia Bozzoli Vargas (2001)|url=https://dircultura.go.cr/magon/?q=42|publisher=Magon Premio Nacional de la Cultura|access-date=4 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204085458/https://dircultura.go.cr/magon/?q=42|archive-date=4 February 2017}} The Society for Applied Anthropology, states that she is "known for her defense of the rights of ethnic minorities, her efforts for the recognition, respect and tolerance of cultural diversity, and her advocacy for conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment". Her work has concentrated on investigating the cultural history of the Amerindian indigenous population, and looking for alternatives for national development by studying diversity in her country's past. She is particularly adept at understanding social issues facing her country's indigenous people. As a result, during the course of her career, she has worked with numerous government institutions, including the social welfare institute, the electricity institute regarding issues of resettlement with dam building projects, and the Ministry of Natural Resources to ensure sustainable development in Costa Rica.
Bozzoli earned a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Georgia in 1975. Thereafter, she served as Director of the Council and as Vice President of Social Action at the University of Costa Rica (1976–1981). and authored Birth and Death in the Belief System of the Bribri Indians of Costa Rica (1979).{{cite book|last=Bozzoli de Wille|first=Maria Eugenia|title=Birth and Death in the Belief System of the Bribri Indians of Costa Rica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S13nQEACAAJ|year=1979|publisher=University Microfilms}} In 1981, Bozzoli was awarded a Fulbright fellowship and taught at Louisiana State University. In 1992, she became professor emerita at the University of Costa Rica; in 1998, she was a visiting professor at the University of Kansas; and in 2000, she was elected to the Council of the {{Interlanguage link|Universidad Estatal a Distancia|es}}.{{sfn|Penland|2008|p=124}} In 1962 Bozzoli began teaching at the Universidad de Costa Rica and remained there.[https://www.appliedanthro.org/about/awards-prizes/bronislaw-malinowski-award MARIA EUGENIA BOZZOLI2000 BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI AWARD RECIPIENT]
Honors
Bozzoli, one of the founders of anthropology in Costa Rica,{{sfn|Society for Applied Anthropology|2002|p=58}}{{sfn|Hartney|Tower|2016|p=147}} was the country's first woman anthropologist.{{sfn|Penland|2008|p=124}} In 2000, she was awarded the Bronislaw Malinowski Award,{{cite web|url=https://www.appliedanthro.org/about/awards-prizes/bronislaw-malinowski-award|title=Maria Eugenia Bozzoli 2000 Bronislaw Malinowski Award Recipient |publisher=Society for Applied Anthropology|access-date=4 February 2017}} and in the following year, she was the Magón National Prize for Culture recipient. The Museo de Culturas Indígenas Doctora María Eugenia Bozzoli, in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, is named in her honor.{{sfn|Penland|2008|p=124}}
Personal life
While studying at the University of Kansas for her bachelor's degree, she met the Costa Rican entomologist, {{Interlanguage link|Álvaro Wille Trejos|es}}, and they married. Bozzoli's daughter, Leticia, attended the University of Kansas, as did Bozzoli's siblings, Ricardo, Fernando, and Virginia.{{cite web|last1=Dunlap|first1=Mary Jane|title=COSTA RICA PROFESSOR RECALLS KU EXCHANGE PROGRAM|url=http://archive.news.ku.edu/1998/98N/MayNews/May19/costa.html|publisher=University of Kansas Office of University Relations|access-date=4 February 2017|date=19 May 1998}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last1=Hartney|first1=Christopher|last2=Tower|first2=Daniel|title=Religious Categories and the Construction of the Indigenous|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OPDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA147|date=27 October 2016|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-32898-3}}
- {{cite book|last=Penland|first=Paige R.|title=Explorer's Guide Costa Rica: With Excursions to Nicaragua & Panama: A Great Destination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hV73nxHuC8C&pg=PA124|date=3 November 2008|publisher=Countryman Press|isbn=978-1-58157-097-7}}
- {{cite book|author=Society for Applied Anthropology|title=Practicing Anthropology|url=https://sfaajournals.net/toc/praa/24/4|year=2002|publisher=Society for Applied Anthropology|volume=24|issue=4}}
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Category:Costa Rican anthropologists
Category:Costa Rican women anthropologists
Category:People from San José Province
Category:Costa Rican people of Italian descent
Category:Costa Rican sociologists
Category:Costa Rican women sociologists
Category:Academic staff of the University of Costa Rica
Category:University of Kansas alumni
Category:University of Georgia alumni
Category:Costa Rican human rights activists
Category:Costa Rican women activists