Rolf Foto

Rolf Kuschel, born 1939, was professor of social psychology at the University of Copenhagen until 2010. After receiving a gold medal from the University for his Thesis on Taboo and its application in psychology, professor Monberg invited him to study the Bellonese taboo system. Since 1968 Kuschel has studied many aspects of the traditional Bellonese culture. Among his main achievements was his comprehensive analysis of 600 years bloodshed among the local people, Vengeance is Their Reply and the publication of the English-Rennellese/Bellonese dictionary together with Samuel H. Elbert and Toomasi Taupongi. Many books, based on the culture’s oral traditions, have been published in the vernacular and an English translation. In this way Kuschel, together with Monberg and Elbert, has contributed to preserve some of the old cultural knowledge for the future generations. In his latest research Kuschel tries to identify and map the Bellonese/Rennellese migration route. The preliminary DNA analysis seems to support the local people’s own migration story. In 1978 Kuschel received the honorific name Mangiengoa, “Endless generosity”, by Momoka of Bellona Island.