Stith Thompson | |
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| Born | March 7, 1885 |
| Died | January 10, 1976 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | American |
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Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976)[1] was an American folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist".[2]
He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes folktales by type, and the author of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, a resource for folklorists that indexes motifs, granular elements of folklore.
- ^ Contradictory information is given about Thompson's deathdate: January 10 or 13, 1976, according to different sources. January 10 is the date given by Peggy Martin, Stith Thompson: His Life and His Role in Folklore Schlolarship, Bloomington, Indiana, Folklore Publications Group, Indiana University, [c. 1976 to 1979], p. 17; it is confirmed by the Obituary in The New York Times, titled "STITH THOMPSON, FOLKLORIST, DIES; Former Indiana Professor and Author Was 90 Organized Institutes", dated January 12, 1976: "Dr. Stith Thompson, a past president of the American Folklore Society, who retired in 1955 as Distinguished Service Professor of Folklore at Indiana University, died Saturday in Columbus, Ind. He was 90 years old." One may think that January 13 was the date of Thompson's funeral service: indicated in a tribute article, it could have been erroneously repeated.
- ^ Roberts, Warren E. (1996). "Thompson, Stith (1885–1976)". In Brunvand, Jan H. (ed.). American folklore an encyclopedia. New York; London: Garland. pp. 1467–8. ISBN 978-0-8153-0751-8.