Dumézil, Georges

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Dumézil, Georges (1898–1986). French scholar of Indo-European thought and structure. Much influenced by Durkheim and Mauss, he made wide-ranging comparative studies, seeking to demonstrate the underlying importance of tripartite structures and functions (for an example see PĀṆḌAVAS), and also of paired relations between heavenly beings and earthly counterparts. Although accused of imposing patterns and ‘shaving the corners’, his views were influential for a time in the study of religion.