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Biography: Best, Elsdon

Fellow ethnologists Elsdon Best (left) and Percy Smith, 1908

Fellow ethnologists Elsdon Best (left) and Percy Smith, 1908

In 1891 Percy Smith invited Elsdon Best to Wellington to discuss the formation of a society for the study of Polynesian history and culture; they were both foundation members of the Polynesian Society in 1892.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Crompton-Smith Collection (PAColl-4073)

Reference: 1/2-028237; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page

Jeffrey Sissons. 'Best, Elsdon', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1872/fellow-ethnologists-elsdon-best-left-and-percy-smith-1908-0 (accessed 4 June 2026).