Presentation

Curious, patient and observant, Pierre Verger has all the essential qualities required to be a good researcher. Nevertheless, it is only after the age of fifty that he ventures into the complex world of archives, ancient books, rare documents, collecting of oral stories, anthologies and inventory of raw data. Gifted with an unlimited curiosity, he investigates a multitude of themes related to Yoruba culture, both in Africa and in Bahia.

Self-taught, with neither academic training nor durable institutional bond, Verger is able to develop a peculiar working technique. Taking notes of everything he sees, he gives the same attention to written sources, oral stories, artefacts and rituals, with the added advantage of being a skilled and experienced photographer. His largest scientific production comes from the research he undertook on the religion of the Yoruba people and of their descendants in Africa and Brazil, on the study of the social, economic and political consequences of the slave trade between Africa and Brazil and on the medicinal and liturgical use of plants.

Another fundamental quality of Pierre Verger’s work as a researcher is the style of his writing, in which he always highlights the referred sources. Avoiding interpretation he chooses to play the discrete role of the narrator, and in doing so allows the reader to access the raw data. An insatiable information seeker, Verger gathered an enormous amount of data that could feed future research. Within the archives of the Pierre Verger Foundation are unpublished documents (slips and manuscripts...) awaiting more research.