Dina Lévi-Strauss

Dina Dreyfus (French: [dʁɛˈfys]), also known as Dina Levi-Strauss (French: [levi stʁos]; 1 February 1911, in Milan – 25 February 1999, in Paris), was a French ethnologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher, who conducted cultural research in South America. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and also became an agrégé. She taught at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and later founded the first ethnological society in the country.

She met her husband through her brother, Pierre Dreyfus, as much of their environment had everyone interconnected. In 1932 she married Claude Lévi-Strauss, who was also a French anthropologist. It can be assumed that part of his interest in ethnology was developed while working with Dina Levi-Strauss. In 1935 she joined the French cultural mission to lecture at the newly founded University of São Paulo. She taught a course on practical ethnology that attracted a large audience from the city's educated, French-speaking society. She also founded Brazil's first ethnological society with Mario de Andrade whom she met during her expedition with her husband to the Amazon rainforest. This ethnological society was called the Society for Ethnography and Folklore. She also participated in the French resistance in the 1940s based around World War II and later expanded on her teachings in philosophy.