Professor André Béteille, one of India’s most eminent sociologists and a towering figure in the academic world, passed away on Tuesday in New Delhi at the age of 91 due to age-related illness, leaving behind an unparalleled intellectual legacy shaped by decades of scholarship on caste, inequality, and social structure.
Professor Béteille’s death marks the end of an era in Indian sociology. Widely respected for his intellectual clarity and moral integrity, he was known for demystifying complex sociological theories and presenting them in lucid, accessible language, earning admiration from students, scholars, and general readers alike.
Born on 30 September 1934 in Chandannagar, then a French colony in Bengal, to a French father and a Bengali mother, Béteille’s unique cultural heritage deeply influenced his academic outlook. His formative years helped shape a worldview that seamlessly blended Western sociological traditions with a profound understanding of Indian social realities.
An internationally trained scholar, Professor Béteille’s academic discipline was sociology, and his intellectual journey was closely associated with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. Over the course of his career, he was affiliated with the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Chicago, and the London School of Economics, experiences that significantly enriched his comparative and analytical approach to social theory.
In India, Béteille’s most enduring institutional association was with the Delhi School of Economics, where he served as a longtime professor and played a pivotal role in shaping generations of sociologists. He later went on to serve as the first Chancellor of Ashoka University, contributing decisively to the development of liberal arts education in the country. His writings on caste, class, inequality, and power remain foundational texts in social science curricula across universities.
In recognition of his immense contribution to education and intellectual life, Professor Béteille was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005. Beyond accolades, he was remembered as an affable, grounded, and deeply humane scholar—qualities that set him apart in contemporary academia.
Tributes have poured in from scholars, institutions, and former students across India and abroad, remembering him not only as a brilliant academic but also as a generous mentor and public intellectual. Though he is no longer with us, Professor André Béteille’s ideas and influence will continue to shape Indian sociology for generations to come.
