Eminent Sociologist Andre Beteille Passes Away at 91
Scholar of caste and inequality, Padma Bhushan awardee leaves lasting imprint on Indian social thought
- Renowned sociologist Andre Beteille dies due to age-related illness
- Professor Emeritus at University of Delhi; former Chancellor of Ashoka University
- Known globally for seminal works on caste and social inequality
- Tributes pour in from academics, historians and institutions
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th Feb: Noted sociologist and writer Andre Beteille passed away due to age-related illness at a hospital in Delhi on Tuesday night. He was 91.
“My father was ailing for some time. He was in the hospital, where he passed away last night,” his daughter Radha Beteille told PTI. His last rites were performed on Wednesday.
Beteille served as Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Delhi since 2003 and was widely regarded as one of India’s most influential social scientists. His scholarship on caste, class and social inequality shaped generations of students and scholars in India and abroad.
Born in West Bengal to a French father and an Indian mother, Beteille completed his postgraduate studies at Calcutta University before moving to Delhi, where he spent much of his academic life. His body of work spanned political sociology, the sociology of religion, inequality and liberal democracy.
Among his most celebrated books are Caste, Class and Power, Society and Politics in India, and The Idea of Natural Inequality and Other Essays. In recognition of his contribution to literature and education, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005.
Historian Ramachandra Guha paid tribute to Beteille, calling him a “moral and intellectual anchor”. “He was the Indian scholar I most admired,” Guha wrote in a post on X.
Ashoka University, where Beteille served as Chancellor from 2014 to 2017, described his death as a profound loss. The university said he played a pivotal role in shaping its Academic Council and taught at the Young India Fellowship programme from its early years, guiding the institution with “wisdom, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to academic excellence”.
The University of Hyderabad also mourned his passing, recalling that he was awarded an honorary doctorate at its 2013 convocation and lauding his rigorous, interdisciplinary methodology and commitment to liberalism, cultural pluralism and constitutional democracy.
Publisher Chiki Sarkar remembered Beteille as both a towering scholar and a deeply humane individual. Calling him her first friend in Delhi, she recalled their walks in Lodhi Garden and described his memoir essay My Two Grandmothers as one of her favourites.
Andre Beteille’s passing marks the end of an era in Indian sociology. His moral clarity, intellectual rigour and lifelong engagement with questions of inequality and democracy have left an enduring legacy that will continue to shape academic and public discourse for generations to come.
