Robert Briffault
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Robert Briffault (1876 - 11 December 1948) was a French novelist, social anthropologist and surgeon.
He was born in Nice, France, but was educated at University of Dunedin and Christchurch University and commenced in medical practice in 1901 in New Zealand. His book on the troubadours helped popularize the theory that they were heavily influenced by the poetry and music of Muslim Spain. He died in Hastings, England.
Briffault is the author of several books, including:
- The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
- Breakdown: The Collapse of Traditional Civilization
- Mothers: A Study of the Origins of Sentiments and Institutions (1927)
- Europa: The Days of Ignorance (novel); a best selling book in the United States in 1935
- Europa in Limbo (novel)
- Marriage Past and Present
- Sin and Sex
- Les Troubadours et le sentiment romanesque (1945), rev. tr. as The Troubadours (1965)
Asked how to pronounce his name, Briffault told The Literary Digest: "Should be pronounced bree'-foh, without attempting to give it a French pronunciation." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
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