Theodora Kroeber
Theodora Kroeber was an American writer and anthropologist, born on March 20, 1897, in Denver, Colorado. Raised in Telluride, Colorado, she later moved to California for her education, earning a master's degree in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1919. After facing personal tragedy with the early death of her first husband, she met the prominent anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, whom she married and with whom she had two additional children. Theodora Kroeber eventually developed her own scholarly interests, particularly in the field of anthropology. She is most renowned for her book "Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America," which provides an engaging account of Ishi, the last member of the Yahi tribe, and the cultural landscape of Northern California before the Gold Rush. This book, praised for its accuracy and storytelling, was followed by a children's version and several other works, including a biography of her husband. Theodora Kroeber passed away in 1979, leaving a legacy that highlights her contributions to literature and anthropology.
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Theodora Kroeber
- Born: March 20, 1897
- Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
- Died: July 4, 1979
- Place of death: Berkeley, California
Biography
Theodora Kroeber was born on March 20, 1897, in Denver, Colorado. She spent her childhood in Telluride, a mining camp in the Rocky Mountains. Kroeber moved to California to attend school. In 1919, she earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Soon after, she married Clifton Spencer Brown. He died in 1923, and she was left with their two sons.
While continuing her graduate work at Berkeley, she met Alfred Kroeber, who is sometimes referred to as the father of American anthropology. The two married, and soon after, Theodora Kroeber took an interest in anthropology. In the years following, they had two more children.
Throughout most of Kroeber’s life, she was in the shadow of her husband’s success. After Alfred Kroeber’s death in 1960, Theodora took his notes and work about Ishi, an Indian that Alfred had interviewed, and wrote the book Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America, which recounts the world of Northern California before the Gold Rush. Despite only having secondhand sources, the book was praised for being accurate and well told. She also released a children’s version of the book, Ishi: The Last of His Tribe, in 1964. She went on to write several more books, including a biography of her late husband, Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. She died in 1979.