GRIAULE, MARCEL. Marcel Griaule (1898–1956) was a pioneer of French ethnographic research in Africa, an emblematic figure of French ethnography, and a catalyst to the emerging discipline's professionalization. After serving in World War I as an air force pilot, he obtained a degree in living Oriental languages (Amharic and Gueze) before studying with sociologist Marcel Mauss. Griaule was among the first ethnographers trained by the Institute of Ethnology at the Sorbonne, and his career paralleled every stage of the discipline's development. An energetic promoter of innovative technological aids, Griaule introduced the ethnographic film. He also founded the Société des Africanistes and its journal. In 1942, he was named the first chair of ethnology at the University of Paris. Like the discipline itself, Griaule's career took progressive distance from colonial interests. As an advisor to the French Union and the president of France's Commission on Cultural Affairs, Griaule...