AmieLearmonth67 at 05:31, 6 February 2026

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{{Short description|Indian sociologist and writer (1934–2026)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Andre Beteille
| honorific_suffix = [[Fellow of the British Academy|FBA]]
| awards = {{ubl|[[Padma Bhushan]]|[[Fellow of the British Academy]]}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]
| workplaces = {{ubl|[[University of Oxford]]|[[University of Cambridge]]|[[University of Chicago]]|[[London School of Economics]]|[[Delhi School of Economics]]|[[Ashoka University]]}}
| image = File:The well-known Sociologist Dr. Andre Beteille receives the Padma Bhushan award from the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on March 28, 2005.jpg
| caption = Beteille (left) receives the [[Padma Bhushan]] from the [[President of India]] [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]], {{circa}} 2005.
| honorific_prefix = [[Padma Bhushan]]
| discipline = [[Sociology]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|9|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2026|2|3|1934|9|30|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[New Delhi]], India
| influences = [[G. S. Ghurye]]
}}

'''André Beteille''' (30 September 1934 – 3 February 2026) was an Indian sociologist, writer and academician. He is known for his studies of the caste system in [[South India]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=André Beteille|url=https://elearning.lse.ac.uk/dart/interviews/beteille.html|access-date=2021-06-06|website=elearning.lse.ac.uk}}</ref> He served with educational institutions in India such as [[Delhi School of Economics]], [[North-Eastern Hill University|North Eastern Hill University]] (in Shillong), and [[Ashoka University]].

==Early life and education==
Beteille was born to a French father and an Indian mother.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Macfarlane|first=Alan|title=André Béteille and Alexis de Tocqueville|url=http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/FILES/Beteille_Tocqueville.htm|access-date=20 January 2022|website=Alanmacfarlane.com}}</ref> He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in anthropology from the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Krishna|first=Nakul|date=2012-11-23|title=Sunlight On The Garden {{!}} André Béteille|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/lRWX5LiTUB9PlRwhJOwwHN/Sunlight-On-The-Garden--Andr-Bteille.html|access-date=2021-09-15|website=mint|language=en}}</ref> Thereafter he received his doctorate from the [[University of Delhi]]. After a brief stint at the [[Indian Statistical Institute]] as a research fellow, he joined the faculty of sociology at the [[Delhi School of Economics]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Young India Fellowship {{!}} Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Liberal Studies|url=http://www.yifp.in/ChancellorViceChancellorDean.aspx|access-date=2021-09-15|website=www.yifp.in}}</ref>

==Career==
Beteille taught at universities including [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]], the [[University of Chicago]], and the [[London School of Economics]]. He also served as the Chairman of the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]] and of the [[Indian Council of Social Science Research]].<ref name=":0" />

He was a Professor of Sociology at the [[Delhi School of Economics]] at the [[University of Delhi]] where, since 2003, he remained [[Professor Emeritus]] of [[Sociology]].<ref>{{cite web|title=DU|url=http://sociology.du.ac.in/index.php/people/faculty?id=130|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116071218/http://sociology.du.ac.in/index.php/people/faculty?id=130|archive-date=16 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was appointed National Research Professor by the [[Government of India]] in 2007.<ref>[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=23756 Bipan Chandra and Andre Beteille Appointed as National Research Professors]</ref>

Beteille later served as the Chancellor of [[North Eastern Hill University]], [[Shillong]], Meghalaya,<ref>{{cite web| title = Administrative Officials|publisher=NEHU Shillong| url = http://www.nehu.ac.in/Administration/officials.php | access-date = 2014-01-14 }}</ref> and prior to that served as Chancellor of [[Ashoka University]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Chancellor |publisher=Ashoka University| url = http://www.ashoka.edu.in/About-Us/Chancellor-and-ViceChancellor | access-date = 2014-01-14 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ashoka and After: The Universities We Believe In|url=https://thewire.in/education/why-singling-out-ashoka-does-promoting-universities-in-india-no-good|access-date=2021-09-15|website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Puri|first=Anjali|date=2014-12-27|title=I haven't lost faith in democracy. It is here to stay...: Andre Beteille|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/i-haven-t-lost-faith-in-democracy-it-is-here-to-stay-andre-beteille-114122700648_1.html|access-date=2021-09-15}}</ref>

==Death==
Beteille died in New Delhi on 3 February 2026, at the age of 91.<ref>[https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sociologist-andre-beteille-death/article70590881.ece Sociologist André Béteille passes away at 91] The Hindu</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
Beteille was a recipient of the third highest civilian honour of India, the [[Padma Bhushan]], and was also made a [[Fellow of the British Academy|Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)]].<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref> He also served on the Social Sciences jury for the [[Infosys Prize]] in 2010.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

==Bibliography==
*''Sociology: Essays on Approach and Method'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2002.
*''Antinomies of Society: Essays on Ideologies and Institutions'', Oxford University Press, 2000.
*''Chronicles of Our Time'', [[Penguin Books]], 2000.
*''The Backward Classes in Contemporary India'', Oxford University Press, 1992.
*''Social and Cultural Reproduction of Caste, Kinship and Occupation in India'', 1991.
*''Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective'', [[Athlone Press]], 1991 (L.S.E. Monographs in Social Anthropology, no. 63).
*''The Idea of Natural Inequality and Other Essays'', Oxford University Press, 1983 (new, enlarged edition, Oxford University Press, 1987).
*''Inequality Among Men'', [[Wiley-Blackwell|Basil Blackwell]], 1977 (Italian edition published as La diseguaglianza fra gli uomini, Il Mulino, 1981).
*''Studies in Agrarian Social Structure'', Oxford University Press, 1974.
*''Six Essays in Comparative Sociology'', Oxford University Press, 1974 (enlarged edition published as Essays in Comparative Sociology, Oxford University Press, 1987).
*''Inequality and Social Change'', Oxford University Press, 1972.
*''Castes: Old and New, Essays in Social Structure and Social Stratification'', Asia Publishing House, 1969.
*''Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village'', [[University of California Press]], 1965.

===Essays===
* Secularism Re-examined<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/09/03/stories/05032523.htm |title=The Hindu : Secularism re-examined |website=www.hinduonnet.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010113311/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/09/03/stories/05032523.htm |archive-date=10 October 2008 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>
* Race & Caste<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile2.php/For+the+negative/14/ |title=Race and caste |website=wcar.alrc.net |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323231251/http://wcar.alrc.net/mainfile2.php/For+the+negative/14/ |archive-date=23 March 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Teaching & Research<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/11/01/stories/05012523.htm |title=The Hindu : Teaching and research |website=www.hindu.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040602153858/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/11/01/stories/05012523.htm |archive-date=2 June 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Teaching and Research, Andre Beteille<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2000/495/495%20andre%20beteille.htm|title=495 Andre Beteille, Teaching and research}}</ref>
* Government & NGOs<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/bihar/09mr99.html|title = Times of India / Telegraph. 9-12 March 1999}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links| wikt=no | commons=no | b=no | n=no | q=Andre Beteille | s=no | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=q3615431}}
* [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1113102 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 1 June 1986 (video)]
* [http://www.ibnlive.com/news/two-knowledge-panel-members-quit-over-quota/11136-3.html Andre quits the knowledge commission - CNN-IBN news report]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051211145105/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050917/asp/opinion/story_5243985.asp A long view of two Indian social scientists]

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2000–09}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beteille, Andre}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2026 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian sociologists]]
[[Category:Indian people of French descent]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Delhi University]]
[[Category:University of Chicago faculty]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Academics of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:Corresponding fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century sociologists]]
[[Category:21st-century sociologists]]

André Beteille - Revision history

AmieLearmonth67 at 05:31, 6 February 2026