Ehrenreich, Paul Max Alexander b. December 12, 1855; Berlin, Prussia d.April 4, 1914; Berlin, Prussia
German ethnographer and anthropologist who traveled extensively to Brazil and Argentina and conducted comparative research on Native American mythology.
Paul Ehrenreich received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Berlin in 1880.
Under the influence of Rudolf Virchow, he turned to the study of ethnology and anthropology. From 1884 to 1885 Ehrenreich toured Brazil for the first time and visited the Botokude in the two states, Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais. Based on his observations, Ehrenreich published Ein Beitrag zur Charakterisitk der botokudischen Sprache (A Contribution to the Characteristics of the Botokudian Language) in 1896. In addition, he was the first European to report about the delta region of the Rio Doce.From 1887 to 1888 he participated as an anthropologist and photographer in the second Xingu Expedition led by Karl von den Steinen. This expedition brought him from Buenos Aires via Cuyaba to the native tribes of the Bakairi, Nahuqua, Mehinaku, Auitι, Yaulapitι, and Kamayura. Ehrenreich collected about 1,235 artifacts from these tribes and donated this ethnographic collection to the Museum fur Volkerkunde (Ethnological Museum) in Berlin. After a stay in Cuyaba during the rainy season, the expedition traveled to the Bororo, which had been forced to settle in a reserve.
After the expedition was dissolved, Ehrenreich continued his research independently in the area of the Rio Araguaya- Tocantins and the Rio Purus. Further, he explored the eastern parts of the mountainous Matto Grosso. His journey led him from Cuyaba and Goias to Leopoldina and via the Araguaya to Belem. He wrote about his encounters on this trip in his Su- damerikanische Stromfahrten (South American River Voyages, 1892).
Ehrenreich drastically corrected topographic knowledge about South America and presented his results in a chart on a scale of 1 to 1 million (1892). He carried out ethnological and linguistic studies with the Karaya and published the results in Beitrage zur Volkerkunde Brasiliens (Contributions to the Ethnology of Brazil, 1891) and Anthropologische Studien uber die Urbe- wohner Brasiliens, vornehmlich der Staaten Matto Grosso, Goyaz und Amazonas (Purus Gebiet) (Anthropological Studies about the Native Population of Brazil, Especially of the People in the Provinces of Matto Grosso, Goyaz, and Amazonas [Purus region], 1897).
After his return, he received a second doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Leipzig in 1895. In 1911 he received a professorship of ethnology at the University of Berlin. Further exploration voyages led him to India, East Asia (1892—1893), and North America (1898 and 1906). During the later trips, Ehrenreich compared his findings in Brazil with the new findings in North America and published his book Die Mythen und Legenden der su- damerikanischen Urvolker und ihre Beziehungen zu denen Nordamerikas und der alten Welt (The Myths and Legends of South American Native People in Their Relation to Those of North America and the Old World, 1905). In his later years he devoted himself mainly to the study of mythology, publishing Die allgemeine Mythologie und ihre ethnologischen Grund- lagen (The General Mythology and Its Ethnological bases, 1914) and his Die Sonne im Mythos (The Sun in Mythology, 1915).Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Argentina; Brazil; Steinen, Karl von den
References and Further Reading
Henze, Dietmar. Enzyklopadie der Entdecker und Erforscher der Erde. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1983, 2:158-159.
Zerries, Otto. “Ehrenreich, Paul Max Alexander.” Neue Deutsche Biographie. Berlin: Duncker and Humblot, 1959, 4:354.