Vojtěch Suk

The exhibition showcases a selection of photographs taken by Vojtěch Suk during his research travels to South Africa, Canada, and South Carpathia. As the founder of the Department of Anthropology, Vojtěch Suk stands out as a remarkable figure of his time. In his work, he advocated for an interdisciplinary approach to the study of humans, combining social and biological perspectives. The exhibition highlights his multifaceted scientific approach. Also a pioneer of later developments in the discipline – such as emphasising the importance of fieldwork as a method for understanding local realities – he was actively engaged in the intellectual debates of his time, which still focused on the cataloguing of people. This complexity is reflected in his photographs, where he blends his egalitarian and classificatory methods. Besides being vital archival materials for the history of the discipline, these images offer a snapshot of the human journeys that crossed paths a century ago.

The exhibition presents a part of the rich archive of images taken by Vojtěch Suk during his travels. They have been selected and organised according to a chronological order and focusing especially on three complementary dimensions. The first is the attention Suk dedicated to the interconnections between people and their environments, which according to him and the intellectual panorama of the time was supposed to have an influence on the human physical development and social organisation. The second is the focus of his work on documenting the processes of continuity and transformation experienced in social life by the people he visited, another topic recurrent in the academic debates of the time. The third is the interest of Suk in realising portraits of the individuals, which on the one hand illustrate his interest in physical characteristics of the people, but at the same time offered them the space for ironic poses subverting the colonial hierarchies. Finally, the last theme is Suk’s attention to the social and collective dimensions of social life, exemplified in the numerous captions of public events and collective activities of the people.

Travel to Natal, South Africa (1913–1914)

Vojtech Suk, was selected by Dr. Aleš Hrdlička for anthropological expeditions to Africa to study Bantu, Hottentot, and Bushmen populations. The expeditions lasted from 1912-1915 with the purpose of conducting anthropological measurements, cast-making, photography, and ethnographic collection across South Africa (Natal Province, Zululand) and East Africa (British Kenya).

Suk spent three months in Natal Province and Zululand, focusing on the American Zulu Mission areas. He examined 1,008 individuals from various people including Zulus, Xhosa, Bacas, Pondos, Swazis, Tongas, and Basuto. His research concentrated on children's development while using adults for comparison, ensuring subjects were “pure-blooded” and normally developing. His key findings included documenting physical characteristics and skin color variations using Broca’s scale, noting medium-dark tones were most common. African children showed significantly less dental caries than European children (90 % vs 10–15% with healthy teeth at age 18). He recorded grip strength, pulse rates, and various anthropometric data, documenting two albino cases, gynecomastia instances, and detailed facial feature observations.

Working with local assistants, notably “Jack” and later Louis Kakembo, Suk employed systematic measurement techniques, photographed subjects, created face and hand casts, and collected ethnographic materials.  Notably, and antecipating future concern of anthropology, he learned basic Zulu language to better connect with subjects.

The second phase involved an extended expedition to British Kenya around Mount Kenya, studying primarily the Kikuyu tribe. This phase involved fourteen porters and focused on similar anthropological documentation. The outbreak of World War I abruptly ended Suk’s work. As an Austrian citizen, he was detained near Nairobi but managed to send most collections to America. He was eventually transported to England and returned via Italy.

Suk’s 1920 publication “Eruption and Decay of Permanent Teeth in Whites and Negroes” became the first South African anthropological work published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. His research contributed valuable comparative data on dental health, physical development, and anthropometric characteristics of African populations.

Suk viewed African populations through the lens of early 20th-century anthropology, noting the Zulus’ military prowess and social organization while observing the impacts of European colonization on traditional lifestyles. His work represents both valuable ethnographic documentation and the colonial-era scientific mindset of his time.

Travel to Labrador, Canada (1926–1927)

Vojtech Suk's expedition to Canada focused on studying Inuit populations to examine racial theory and biological mixing effects. Working with his wife, who assisted with medical procedures and blood sampling, Suk provided medical care in exchange for research access through an agreement with the Moravian Church. The couple spent three months visiting five missionary stations: Makkovik, Hopedale, Nain, Okak, and Hebron, where they encountered diverse populations ranging from “pure-blooded” Inuit to “mixed-race” individuals and whites.

The Labrador Inuit traditionally lived by hunting seals, walrus, and fish, wearing clothing made from caribou and sealskin. They consumed primarily meat diets supplemented with fall berries, though European contact gradually introduced textile clothing and canned foods through the Hudson Bay Company. Their traditional lifestyle was disrupted by disease epidemics following European contact, as they lacked immunity to influenza, measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic devastated populations, reducing numbers from 5,000 to around 700 in some areas.

The Moravian Brothers established missionary stations beginning in 1771. These missions provided education, medical care, and attempted cultural conversion, teaching basic literacy. After World War I, financial difficulties led the Hudson Bay Company to gain a monopoly over Labrador coast trade in 1925.

During his research, Suk conducted 428 medical consultations and procedures, with 109 cases involving eye diseases like eyelid inflammation and pterygium. He documented significant health disparities between “traditional” Inuit and those adopting European diets. The first maintained better health, while those consuming canned foods showed higher rates of tuberculosis and other diseases. Syphilis and tuberculosis proved particularly devastating to Inuit populations, as they lacked historical exposure and immunity. According to Suk’s observations, individuals consuming European foods showed higher infection rates than those maintaining local diets. Meanwhile, he also observed that families eating only tea and hard bread suffered severe malnutrition and dental problems.

Suk also studied Mongolian pigment spots in 53 Inuit children, finding them in 14 children under four years old and two 11-year-olds. These spots varied in size, color intensity, and location across the body. He theorized their universal occurrence among human populations supported monophyletic human origins.

The researcher concluded that the prospects for Labrador populations were poor due to spreading diseases and cultural disruption. He proposed five solutions: eliminating weapons that led to territorial conflicts, preventing sudden changes requiring rapid adaptation, controlling disease transmission, protecting natural resources essential for indigenous lifestyles, and preventing mixing between populations. Though he planned additional Arctic expeditions for comparative research, financial constraints prevented these travels.

Suk’s Labrador work resulted in several professional publications including studies on syphilis and tuberculosis occurrence, congenital pigment spots, and a fictional account of treating an eleven-year-old girl requiring complete tooth extraction. His research provided valuable documentation of a population experiencing rapid cultural and health transitions during the early twentieth century.

Travels to Subcarpathian Ruthenia (1920–1930)

Suk conducted three research expeditions to Subcarpathian Ruthenia, examining 1,almost two thousand individuals and collecting one thousand blood group samples. His first trip in summer 1920, assisted by his brother Antonín and medical student Vlastimil Vrtiš, focused on the Hutsuls in the Tisa and Kosovská Rika valleys to gather anthropological and serological data, resulting in two publications. A second, larger expedition in 1930, accompanied by his wife Marie and an assistant, expanded to higher altitudes to study less-mixed populations using pack horses to transport a full laboratory. They sought “pure types” to determine ancestral origins.

His interest in morphologic characteristics of these people, is extensively documented in this studies. His assessments recorded numerous somatic and health data: height; head, face, and nose dimensions; pigmentation; dental health; blood pressure; organ system health; thyroid conditions and cretinism; tuberculin tests; children's weight, nutrition, rickets, and parasites; blood groups; age; gender; birth season; parental origin; family names; family size; child mortality; abortions; cultural level; employment; nutrition; folk medicine; photographs; and plaster casts.

Analysis found Hutsul men had an average height of 167.2 cm, shorter than Czechs but taller than Lemkos and Boykos. They exhibited Dinaric-type traits: dark skin/hair, brachycephaly (avg. index 85), and long faces/noses. Hair was predominantly brown (86.9 %); eye color was mostly grey (42.8 %). Head circumference (avg. 552mm) was larger than Czechs and neighboring groups. Suk suggested dark pigmentation might stem from mixing with Romanians.

A second population in the Verkhovyna region differed somatically: lighter, sometimes yellowish skin; greenish-brown or blue eyes; shorter height; wider faces/heads; bent noses; and a Lapponian type. Their health was poorer, with high illiteracy (up to 80 %) and serious health issues: over 30 % tuberculosis in children, a 93 % goiter rate, and cases of cretinism and myxedema. Baltic-type men were also noted. Suk specifically studied endemic goiter, inspired by research linking it to cabbage consumption, common in the impoverished, pastoral Verkhovyna diet. He found girls suffered more significant goiter enlargement than boys, though approximately a quarter of all children were unaffected.

Suk also visited German settlements like Německá Mokrá, established in 1775 by Catholic families from Ischl and Gmunden. He describe them as “clean”, “well-groomed”, “hardworking” who did not wear traditional costumes and held mutual animosity with the Ruthenian population.