Ruth BenedictConsidered one of the most influential and articulate figures in American anthropology, Ruth Benedict (18871948) was trained by Franz Boas and Elsie Clews Parsons and collaborated with the equally renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead, a student of hers with whom she was for a time romantically involved. When Benedict died suddenly at the age of sixty one, she was popularly known for two best selling works: Patterns of Culture, which became an