Doctor Hélène Pagezy has recently, and suddenly, passed away after forty years of meticulous anthropological research, conducted mainly in Africa

Darlu, Pierre

Pasquet, Patrick

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Human BiologyVolume 85 | Issue 5 Article 102013Hélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945 - March 3, 2013Pierre DarluNational Museum of Natural History, Paris, darlu@mnhn.frPatrick PasquetNational Museum of Natural History, ParisFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiolRecommended CitationDarlu, Pierre and Pasquet, Patrick (2013) "Hélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945 - March 3, 2013," Human Biology: Vol. 85: Iss. 5, Article 10.Available at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss5/10Hélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945 - March 3, 2013AbstractDoctor Hélène Pagezy has recently, and suddenly, passed away after forty years of meticulous anthropologicalresearch, conducted mainly in Africa.KeywordsobituaryThis obituary is available in Human Biology: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss5/101National Center of Scientifi c Research, National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France.*Correspondence to: Pierre Darlu, CNRS, National Museum of Natural History, Paris 75005, France. E-mail: darlu@mnhn.fr.Human Biology, October 2013, v. 85, no. 5, pp. 797–xx.Copyright © 2014 Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309ObituaryHélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945–March 3, 2013PIERRE DARLU1* AND PATRICK PASQUET1Doctor Hélène Pagezy has recently, and suddenly, passed away after forty years of meticulous anthropological research, conducted mainly in Africa.Brilliant doctoral student in the areas of ecology and anthropology, Hélène Pagezy was inspired by the research interests of Professor Jean Hiernaux (National Center of Scientifi c Research, CNRS, University of Paris), a well-respected scholar who stimulated much research about African populations. After graduating in 1969, Dr. Pagezy went to Rwanda, Zaire, and Cameroon for intensive fi eldwork. She pioneered studies comparing physical and physiological differences between Pygmy and non-Pygmy populations, investigating for the fi rst time changes related to physical activity, seasons, and the stress provoked by the search for food. In this context, she described a particular kind of hunger related to the desire for meat, a feeling that has physiological causes and consequences. Human nutrition and diet became one of Dr. Pagezy’s major research interests. She conducted studies focusing on taste sensitivity and food habits, both in Pygmy and non-Pygmy groups, as well as other populations, such as Sudanese or Inuits.Very open to interdisciplinary research, Dr. Pagezy also studied various aspects of the cultures and the environments she approached, which she described with remarkable precision. For example, she recorded songs and ritual dances related to the ceremony for the end of seclusion for primiparous women among the Ntomba people of Zaire. She also well documented fi shing techniques in Cameroon and Guyana. Such video and sound recordings were presented to the public through several museum exhibitions.Becoming acquainted with the people that hosted her research, she con-tributed much to establish effective AIDS prevention campaigns and organized theatrical representations intended to make the audience familiar with the illness. In a similar vein, she led a project devoted to the collection of drawings portraying the way children see their societies and their relationship with the environment. Over two hundred drawings, from all over the world, were recently published in 798 / DARLU AND PASQUETa remarkable book, Nature du Monde: Dessins d’Enfants (Natures of the World: Children’s Drawings, 2011). It includes accompanying comments by scholars familiar with the subject matter. Such publication would deserve an English translation, given its universal message.Dr. Pagezy ended her scientifi c career as director of research at CNRS, a position equivalent to a full professorship. After her retirement, she continued to work at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris where she transmitted to many younger scholars her scientifi c rigor, ethnological precision, curiosity, and generosity.Dr. Hélène Pagezy will be greatly missed by her family and her colleagues.Selected Scientifi c ReferencesPagezy, H. 1978. Morphological, physical, and etho-ecological adaptations of Oto and Twa women living in the equatorial forest (Tumba, Zaire). J. Hum. Evol. 7:683–694.Pagezy, H. 1982. Seasonal hunger, as experienced by the Oto and Twa of a Ntomba village in the equatorial forest (Lake Tumba, Zaire). Ecol. Food Nutr. 12:139–153.Pagezy, H. 1983. Attitude of Ntomba society towards the primiparous woman and its biological effects. J. Biosoc. Sci. 15:421–431.Pagezy, H. 1983.Body-composition as infl uenced by cultural-patterns in primipa-rous women in an African forest population. J. Hum. Evol. 12:706–706.Pagezy, H. 1984. Seasonal hunger as experienced by the Oto and Twa women of a Ntomba village in the equatorial forest (Lake Tumba, Zaire). Ecol. Food Nutr. 15:13–27.Pagezy, H., and R. C. Hauspie. 1985. Seasonal-variation in the growth-rate of weight in African babies, aged 0 to 4 years. Ecol. Food Nutr. 18:29–41.Hladik, C. M., B. Robbe, and H. Pagezy. 1986. [Differential taste sensitivity of Pygmy and non-Pygmy populations of the dense forest, Sudanese and Eskimos, in relation to their biochemical environment]. C. R. Acad. Sci. III 303:453–458.Hauspie, R. C., and H. Pagezy. 1989. Longitudinal study of growth of African babies: An analysis of seasonal variations in the average growth rate and the effects of infectious diseases on individual and average growth patterns. Acta Paediatr. Scand. Suppl. 350:37–43.Pagezy, H., and R. C. Hauspie. 1989. Growth retardation in weight and catch-up growth following infection by measles and whooping cough among babies of rural Zaire (Lake Tumba). Int. J. Anthropol. 4:87–101.Hladik, C. M., A. Hladik, O. F. Linares, H. Pagezy, A. Semple, and M. Hadley, eds. 1993. Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Ap-plications to Development. MAB series no. 13. Paris: UNESCO-Parthenon.Pagezy, H. 1996. Wale Chantal, an Ekonda Woman. Videotape, 52 min. English version available through CNRS Images at http://videotheque.cnrs.fr/Obituary: Hélène Pagezy / 799doc=793?langue=EN. This fi lm was awarded prizes at the fi lm festivals Bilan du fi lm ethnographique (Paris), Festival international du fi lm scien-tifi que (Palaiseau, France), and Festival internazionale del fi lm etnografi co (Nuoro, Italy). Pagezy, H., P. S. Carrière, and C. Sabinot. 2011. Nature du Monde: Dessins d’Enfants. Paris: Editions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifi ques. ISBN 2-7355-0724-5.

Hélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945 - March 3, 2013

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Hélène Pagezy, August 2, 1945 - March 3, 2013

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