ROBERT and SARAH LEVINE

LEVINE, Robert & Sarah Dr. Robert A. LeVine and Dr. Sarah E. LeVine (n�e Friedberger) both died in August. The Harvard anthropologists met in Nigeria in 1961, married in Chicago in 1968, and worked together for more than 50 years.

Born in New York City in 1932, Bob LeVine was a leading figure in the field of psychological anthropology. Professor of Education and Human Development at Harvard University, he received his BA and MA at the University of Chicago and his PhD from Harvard. Later, he undertook training at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. His research, starting in the 1950s, covered many topics including child development, culture theory, schooling, parenting, demography and person-centered ethnography, considering the individual in sociocultural context. Together with his wife and other collaborators, he was the author of many books about communities in Africa and around the world, including "Culture, Behavior & Personality: An Introduction to the Comparative Study of Psychosocial Adaptation" (1982) and "Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self and Culture" (2010).

During his tenure at Harvard, Bob served terms as Chairman of the Committee on African Studies and as Chairman of Human Development. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford University, a Guggenheim Fellow, Chairman of the Social Science Research Council, President of the Society for Psychological Anthropology and a Fellow of the National Academy of Education.

Born in England in 1940, Sarah LeVine received her BA from Oxford University and her PhD from Harvard University. Her fieldwork, starting in the late 1960s, focused on the socialisation of children and the impact of women's education on child and reproductive health in many countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Mexico, Venezuela, India and Nepal. She was the author of a wide range of books, including "Mothers & Wives" (1979) and "The Saint of Kathmandu" (2008). She also wrote novels under a pseudonym, Louisa Dawkins, and published histories of two communities in her own backyard, the Morgan Bay Zendo and Toddy Pond, both in Surry, Maine, where the LeVines spent their summers.

In addition to her work as an anthropologist, Sarah, who trained as a psychiatric social worker at the University of Chicago in the 1960s and was a naturalized American citizen herself, spent decades volunteering with those seeking political asylum in the United States, doing extensive interviews to prepare affidavits in support of their applications.

The LeVines most recent book together was, "Do Parents Matter?" (2016). A comparative look at global parenting practices, the book synthezised learnings from their research for American parents. They leave behind a legacy of curiosity and compassion, and generations of students, many of whom became life-long friends.

Sarah died quickly and unexpectedly of cancer. Bob died of complications related to dementia, shortly after. They are survived by their children and their children's partners, Anna LeVine Winger and Joerg Winger of Berlin, Germany, and Alex LeVine and Jordanna Fraiberg of Los Angeles, CA, and by three beloved granddaughters, Isabella and Rose Winger, and Eva LeVine. All were lucky to be with them both and together during their final days.

A celebration of Bob and Sarah LeVine's lives will be held next summer. Donations can be made in their names to the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, a wildlands preserve in Hancock County, Maine.

View the online memorial for Robert & Sarah LEVINE