Eileen Jensen Krige (1905–1995) was a prominent South African social anthropologist noted for her research on Zulu and Lovedu cultures.
Together with Hilda Kuper and Monica Wilson, she produced substantial works on the Nguni peoples of Southern Africa.
These include amongst others, Isaac Schapera, Winifred Hoernlé, Hilda Kuper, Monica Wilson, Audrey Richards and Max Gluckman.
Jack a nephew of J.C. Smuts[4] and an advocate at the Transvaal Supreme Court, shared Krige's anthropological interests and subsequently accompanied her on most of her field trips.
[10] Krige remained interested in the Lovedu and the tales she heard about their queen who is the rain-maker par excellence of South Africa.
[11] Thanks to a Fellowship of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures obtained in 1936, Krige and her husband could do a detailed study of the Lovedu people which lasted until 1938.
[12] Krige obtained her DLitt from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1940 and in 1943 she and her husband published The Realm of a Rain-Queen: A Study of the Patterns of Lovedu Society.
[13] In this book Krige pays attention to amongst others the royal institutions, legal procedure of compromise and appeasement, magic, witchcraft, and religion.
Her knowledge of Zulu society and culture enhanced the value of her teaching and contributed to her inspirational career as University professor and scholar.
1985 Aspects of Change in the Social and Political Organization of the Lovedu, with special Reference to Re-Settlement and Family Structure.