BERNDT, RONALD (1916–1990), an Australian anthropologist, was the first to transcribe, translate, and analyze Aboriginal stories and songs; he also wrote extensively on social organization, sexuality, poetry and song, art and material culture, as well as social change and acculturation within Aboriginal societies. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, to an Australian-born Huguenot mother and a German father he was attracted to anthropology at an early age. Fascinated with the Great Pyramids of Egypt, he even taught himself to read hieroglyphics as a child.

His interest in ethnology and in Aboriginal culture led him first to pursue local field research. In 1940 he entered the University of Sydney as a student of Professor A. P. Elkin, earning a diploma of anthropology (1943), bachelor of arts (1950), and master of arts in anthropology, first class (1951). While at the university he also met New Zealander Catherine Helen Webb (1918–1994), whom he married in 1941 (Stanton...