Elliott Percival Skinner (June 20, 1924 – April 1, 2007) was an American anthropologist and United States Ambassador to the Republic of Upper Volta from 1966 to 1969.
He supported American values, and enlisted in the United States Army in 1944 and fought in World War II in France, which later allowed him to obtain citizenship.
[2] His PhD thesis, working with Morton Fried, was "Ethnic Interaction in a British Guiana Rural Community: A Study in Secondary Acculturation and Group Dynamics.
From 1955 to 1957 as a post-doc, he shifted his research focus from Latin America to Upper Volta, living in the country and learning the More (Language) spoken by the Mossi, the majority ethnic group.
He was almost certainly the only qualified Mossi-speaking, highly educated citizen for the role, which provided him with ample opportunity to also study urban and rural Burkinabe life, and particularly the fragile politics of post-independence from France.
[6] Named in honor of Elliott P. Skinner, the award recognizes outstanding books that contribute significantly to the global community of Africanist scholars and further the interests of the African continent.
The award is open to works from all sub-fields of anthropology, with a focus on books based on extensive fieldwork in Africa or those advancing innovative research methodologies.
Awardees include prominent Africanists, such as Michael Lambek, Yolanda Covington-Ward, James Ferguson, Serena Owusua Dankwa,[7] Daniel Jordan Smith, and Jemima Pierre.