Background
Béteille, André was born on September 30, 1934 in Chandannagar, India.
Béteille, André was born on September 30, 1934 in Chandannagar, India.
Bachelor of Science, University Calcutta, 1955. Master of Science, University Calcutta, 1957. Doctor of Philosophy, University Delhi, 1964.
He is particularly well known for his studies of the caste system in South India. He is a Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi where he is Professor Emeritus of Sociology since 2003. He was appointed National Research Professor by the Government of India in 2007.
In the words of historian Ramachandra Guha,
Béteille has written insightfully about all the major questions of the day: India"s encounters with the West, the contest between religion and secularism, the relationship between caste and class, the links between poverty and inequality, the nurturing of public institutions, the role and responsibilities of the intellectual.
In the words of Doctor Surajit C. Mukhopadhyay
Béteille is also one among the few influential sociologists of our times and his writings bear testimony to this amalgamation of academic our times and his writings bear testimony to this amalgamation of academic. In 1992, he became a Fellow of the British Academy.
In 2006, following a proposal for increasing caste-based reservations, Beteille quit the Commission in protest. He is Professor Emeritus at Department of Sociology, University of Delhi.
Presently he is the Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya and Ashoka University, in India.
Fellow British Academy (correspondent). Member National Institute Advanced Study (senior life associate), Indian Sociological Society, Association Social Anthropologists (England).
S, Maurice and Renuka (Mukherji) B. Married Esha Ghoshai, December 11, 1967. Children: Radha, Tara.