Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu (born Israel Ehrenberg; June 28, 1905 – November 26, 1999) was a British-American anthropologist who popularized the study of topics such as race and gender and their relation to politics and development.

[2] Forced out of his Rutgers position after the McCarthy hearings, he repositioned himself as a public intellectual in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing regularly on television shows and writing for magazines and newspapers.

[3] He developed an interest in anatomy very early and as a boy was befriended by Scottish anatomist and anthropologist Arthur Keith under whom he studied informally.

At this time, he wrote a letter introducing himself to Harvard anthropologist Earnest Hooton, claiming to have been "educated at Cambridge, Oxford, London, Florence, and Columbia" and to have earned M.A.

[4] He taught anatomy to dental students in the United States,[4] and received his doctorate in 1936, when he produced a dissertation at Columbia University, Coming into being among the Australian Aborigines: A study of the procreative beliefs of the native tribes of Australia which was supervised by cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict.

Montagu wrote the Foreword and Bibliography of the 1955 edition of Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution by Petr Kropotkin, which was reprinted in 2005.

Due to disputes concerning his involvement with the UNESCO "Statement on Race", Montagu became a target for anti-communists, and, lacking tenure, was dismissed from Rutgers University and "found all other academic avenues blocked.

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).

He edited Science and Creationism, a volume of essays by several writers, including Isaac Asimov,[6] which refuted creationist arguments.

[7] Dave Langford reviewed Science and Creationism for White Dwarf #75, and stated that it "reveals just how intellectually poverty-stricken the creationist movement is.

The first UNESCO Statement says, "Scientists have reached general agreement in recognizing that mankind is one: that all men belong to the same species, Homo sapiens.

"[8]: 158 One of his works, Man's Most Dangerous Myth, was written in 1942, when race was considered the determinant of people's character and intelligence.

His writing further emphasizes the complexity of our descent and rejects claims that support one race being superior when compared to others.

He touches on society, genetics, psychological, culture, war, democracy, eugenics, and social factors as contributors that enhance this idea of race.

Originally produced as a magazine article, The Natural Superiority of Women, published in 1952, was one of the major documents of second-wave feminism and the only one written by a man.

Using his background as a physical anthropologist, Montagu points to the biological advantages that the women of the human species have for long-term survival.