Thomas Cullen Young | |
|---|---|
 Thomas Cullen Young (1880–1955) | |
| Born | 27 October 1880 |
| Died | 14 June 1955 (aged 74) |
| Citizenship | Scottish |
| Occupation(s) | Missionary, anthropologist, author, editor |
| Known for | Ethnography, mission work abroad |
| Notable work | Notes on the history of the Tumbuka-Kamanga peoples in the Northern Province of Nyasaland. (1970) |
Thomas Cullen Young (1880–1955)[1] was a Scottish Presbyterian anthropologist and missionary, who first started his missionary work in Malawi at the Livingstonia Mission in 1904. During his missionary career, he emphasised learning the customs and wisdom of the local population to contribute towards a greater understanding of missionary work, as well as the importance of consideration of the African lifestyle.
He was influential in education, religion, and social aspects, eventually helping relieve tensions between anthropologists and missionaries residing in the region. Cullen Young had a broad range of interests, having passion in missionary work, but also education, ethnography, anthropology, and politics. The broader concerns with African culture included in his writing had political implications in both the pre- and post-independence eras. Later in his life, he developed an interest in African language, culture, and history, writing prolifically on these subjects. Young's studies on the Tumbuka-Kamanga peoples provided the first published record of the ethnography and history of northern Malawi. He also had a friendship with Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who became the first President of Malawi. Young is perceived as an important documentalist on this particular period of missionary history.
Young went to Britain to work as a second-rank colonial expert in 1931 and died in 1955 at the age of 74.
- ^ Leroy, Vail (1 October 1990). "T. Cullen Young". African Affairs. 889 (357): 612–613. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098357.