Judith Gleason
Judith Gleason | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1929 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Died | 2012 (aged 82–83) |
| Alma mater | Radcliffe College (BA) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Children | 5 |
Judith Illsley Gleason (1929–2012) was an American anthropologist, Africanist, and writer. She published a large number of books dedicated to the Orishas and Yoruba religions more broadly, both in West Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean.[1] She conducted anthropologic studies in places such as Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, and West Africa.
Biography
[edit]Gleason was born in 1929 in Pasadena, California. She graduated with a bachelors degree at Radcliffe College, later earning her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.[2] She taught at Sarah Lawrence College.[3] She also worked as a consultant for schools and organizations that were starting their African humanities and literature programs.[2]
In 1970, she wrote a novel, Agõtĩme: Her Legend, centered on an account of Na Agontimé, who offends her husband, who then sells her to slavery in Brazil; she makes a bargain with a vodu (deity), putting her son on the throne of Dahomey and bringing her home.[4] Her 1971 book Orisha: the gods of Yorubaland, was included in an exhibition for Trinidad and Tobago's Emancipation celebrations at the National Library and Information System (NALIS) in Port of Spain in 2019.[5]
Gleason died in 2012.[1] She had 5 children.[4]
Bibliography (selection)
[edit]Books
[edit]Source:[6]
- This Africa: Novels by West Africans in English and French (1965)
- Agõtĩme: Her Legend (with Carybé; 1970)
- Orisha: the gods of Yorubaland (1971)
- A recitation of Ifa, oracle of the Yoruba (with Awotunde Aworinde and John Olaniyi Ogundipe; 1973)
- Santería, Bronx (1975)
- Leaf and bone: African praise-poems: an anthology, with commentary (1980)
- Oya. In Praise of an African Goddess (1987)
Articles
[edit]Source:[7]
- Where Does Your River Begin? (2004)
- Waterspirit-Carrying Woman (2009)
- Summer Visits Nezahualcoyotl (2009)
- Day and Night Hunting (2009)
References
[edit]- ^ a b "WITH JUDITH GLEASON". ETHNOS. October 15, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
- ^ a b "Gleason, Judith". ISNI. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
- ^ "This Africa: Novels by West Africans in English and French". Northwestern University Press. October 15, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
- ^ a b "Agotime: her legend". Internet Archive. Grossman Publishers. 1970. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
- ^ Mungal, Veela (August 8, 2019). "Nalis' Emancipation exhibition celebrates Yoruba tradition". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
- ^ "Illsley Gleason, Judith". OpenLibrary. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
- ^ "Gleason, Judith". SageJournals. Retrieved May 23, 2025.
