Hunt, Eva (1934–1980)

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Hunt, Eva (1934–1980)

American cultural anthropologist. Name variations: Eva Verbitsky Hunt. Born Eva Verbitsky, April 12, 1934, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; raised in Mexico City; died of cancer, 1980; dau. of Alejandro Verbitsky and Josefa Plotkin Verbitsky; Universidad Femina in Mexico City, BS; attended Escuela Nacional de Anthropologia, 1953–57; University of Chicago, MA, 1959, Ph.D. in anthropology, 1962; m. Robert Hunt (anthropologist), 1960; children: Melissa Hunt.

Studied in Mexico and US; served as research associate for Paul Bohannan in anthropology program of Northwestern University; with husband, lived with Cuicatec in Mexico (c. 1964) and performed ground-breaking regional work there by studying an entire district (as opposed to a village) in Oaxaca (1960s); joined staff of University of Chicago (1965); studied kinship systems; published best-known work The Transformation of the Hummingbird: Cultural Roots of a Zinacantecan Mythical Poem (1977); served as associate professor at Boston University (until 1980).