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Westermarck, Edvard Alexander 1862-1939
Finnish social philosopher

Born and educated in Helsinki, he became lecturer in sociology there, and Professor of Sociology in London (1907-30). His History of Human Marriage (3 vols, 1922) was an attack on the theory of primitive promiscuity. He also wrote on the evolution of ethics, in The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas (1906-08) and Christianity and Morals (1939). Having travelled widely in Morocco, he published several accounts of its peoples, including Ritual and Belief in Morocco (2 vols, 1926) and Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco (1914).