Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss (May 10, 1872 - February 10, 1950) was a French anthropologist and sociologist. With a strong background in sociology, he began using ethnography to look at how different cultures build relationships. He was also influenced by his nephew, another famous anthropologist, Émile Durkheim. Mauss is known for his work on gifts and exchange, magic, sacrifice, the body, and comparing cultures. Mauss’s most famous work is The Gift. The Gift is about the ways gifts and exchanges build relationships. Mauss is also known for influencing structural anthropologists such as Claude Lévi-Strauss.