Johannes Wilbert

Johannes Wilbert (1927-2022) was a prominent German-born anthropologist renowned for his extensive research on indigenous communities in South America, particularly in the Orinoco Delta, focusing on topics such as shamanism, ethnobotany, mythology, and folklore. He earned degrees in Philosophy and Pedagogy in 1951 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Sociology in 1956 from the University of Cologne, followed by postgraduate study at Yale on a Fulbright Scholarship. Wilbert joined UCLA as a Visiting Associate Professor in 1961, became a full professor in 1964, and retired in 1991, authoring over 10 books including 'Tobacco and Shamanism in South America'.