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Ashley Montagu (1905 - 1999), was an English anthropologist and humanist who chose to direct his numerous published studies on the significant relationship of mother and infant to the general public. The humanizing effects of touch informed the studies of isolation-reared monkeys and adult pathological violence that is the subject of his Time-Life documentary “Rock A Bye Baby” (1970)

Montagu was born in London with the name Israel Ehrenberg.

He taught and lectured at Harvard, Princeton (where he chaired the Department of Anthropology), University of California, New York University. He wrote over 60 books.

Books by Montagu

(list not complete)

• Life Before Birth
• Touching: The Human Significance of The Skin 1971
• On Being Human
• The Nature of Human Aggression
• The Natural Superiority of Women
• Growing Young
• Living and Loving
• The Peace of The World
• Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race
• Human Evolution
• The Elephant Man
• Anthropology and Human Nature

He is co-author with Floyd Matson of The Human Connection and The Dehumanization of Man. He is the writer and director of the film "One World or None," described as one of the best documentaries ever made.He collaborated with Sir Frederick Treves to research and write The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity. The Ashley Montagu Resolution to End the Genital Mutilation of Children Worldwide was a petition he presented before the World court at The Hague in 1994, which inspired the global reaction to female genital mutilation.

Quotes

• "Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof."
• "The natural superiority of women is a biological fact, and a socially acknowledged reality."
• "The idea is to die young as late as possible."

External link

• Biographical notice of Dr. Ashley Montagu (http://montagunocircpetition.org/index.php?pcf=montagu-bio)