Robert Neelly Bellah

Robert Neelly Bellah (February 23, 1927 – July 30, 2013) was an American sociologist, and the Elliott Professor of Sociology, as well as Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He was internationally known for his work related to the sociology of religion.

Bellah's magnum opus, Religion in Human Evolution (2011), traces the biological and cultural origins of religion and the interplay between the two. Philosopher Jürgen Habermas wrote of the work:

"This great book is the intellectual harvest of the rich academic life of a leading social theorist who has assimilated a vast range of biological, anthropological, and historical literature in the pursuit of a breathtaking project... In this field I do not know of an equally ambitious and comprehensive study."[4]

Bellah was born in Altus, Oklahoma on February 23, 1927. His father was a newspaper editor and publisher and died when he was 2. His mother Lillian moved the family to Los Angeles, where she had relatives. Bellah attended Los Angeles High School, where he and his future wife, Melanie Hyman, were editors of the student newspaper. They got married in 1948 after she graduated from Stanford University, and he began studying at Harvard University after a service in the Army. His wife passed in 2010. He was fluent in Japanese and literate in Chinese, French and German, and later studied Arabic at McGill University in Montreal.

Bellah died July 30, 2013 at an Oakland, California hospital from complications after heart surgery. He was 86 and is survived by his daughters Jennifer Bellah Maguire and Hally Bellah-Guther; a sister, Hallie Reynolds; and five grandchildren.

Citations

• 4. "About Religion in Human Evolution". Harvard University Press. Retrieved August 7, 2013.

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• Residence: 1930 -  Los Angeles (Districts 0001-0250), Los Angeles, California, USA
• Race: White
• Updated from MyHeritage Match by SmartCopy: Oct 5 2014, 9:17:43 UTC

Links

• Official website, Wikipedia, NY Times obituary