Professor Gananath Obeyesekere, a distinguished academic and former Head of Anthropology at Princeton University, has passed away at the age of 95.
He earned his BA in English from the University of Peradeniya in 1955, followed by an MA in 1958 and a PhD in 1964 from the University of Washington.
Prior to his tenure at Princeton University from 1980 to 2000, Prof. Obeyesekere held prestigious academic positions in Sri Lanka, the University of Washington, and the University of California, San Diego.
Among his popular books are Land Tenure in Village Ceylon, Medusa’s Hair, The Cult of the Goddess Pattini, Buddhism Transformed (coauthor), The Work of Culture, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific, and Making Karma.
