Irawati Karve

Irawati Karve was born on 15 December 1905 in Myingyan, Burma, then part of British India and now in Myanmar. Her father, Ganesh Hari Karmarkar, had connections with Pune, and Karve was sent to Pune for her education. She studied at Huzurpaga School and later attended Fergusson College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1926. She subsequently completed a master's degree in sociology from the University of Bombay in 1928.

Karve pursued advanced studies in Germany and completed doctoral research at the University of Berlin between 1928 and 1930. Her dissertation examined the normal asymmetry of the human skull and bones, and she received a D.Phil. in 1930. Her training covered both physical and social anthropology and helped establish her as an important figure in the developing field of anthropology in India.

After returning to India, Karve worked at SNDT Women's University in Bombay and later joined Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune. She joined Deccan College in 1939 and eventually headed its departments of Sociology and Anthropology. She also contributed to the development of anthropology at the University of Pune and presided over the Anthropology section of the Indian Science Congress in New Delhi in 1947.

Karve's research covered kinship, caste, family organization, social relationships, anthropology, and the cultural history of Maharashtra. Her Kinship Organization in India, published by Deccan College in 1953, examined patterns of family and kinship across different parts of India. She also wrote Hindu Society: An Interpretation (1961) and Maharashtra: Land and People (1968). Deccan College's digital library preserves records of several of her research publications.

Her best-known literary work was Yuganta, a series of essays examining major figures and ethical questions in the Mahabharata. Karve approached the epic through historical, social, and anthropological perspectives rather than treating its characters only as traditional religious figures. The work received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1968.

Karve also wrote extensively in Marathi and English. Her other Marathi works included Paripurti, Bhovara, Amachi Samskruti, Samskruti, and Gangajal. Her scholarship connected academic anthropology with questions about Indian society, culture, family, caste, and mythology.

Irawati Karve died in Pune on 11 August 1970. Her work remains an important part of the history of sociology and anthropology in India, while Yuganta continues to attract literary and scholarly attention. Deccan College has also preserved material relating to her work, including publications and proceedings from a centenary seminar dedicated to her scholarship.