Famous as the ‘the Father of Modern Anthropology’, Franz Boas was an important figure in 20thy century anthropology. He played a key role in organising the American Anthropological Association and made contributions in the field of physical anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, as well as cultural anthropology. He argued against the theories that distinguished people on the basis of race and discredited the belief that western civilisation is superior to the other societies. He was also a prolific writer; some of his well-known books in the field of anthropology include ‘The Mind of Primitive Man’, ’Anthropology and Modern Life’ and ‘Kwakiutl Ethnography’. Throughout his life he spoke out against racism and advocated the need for intellectual freedom and worked to protect German and Austrian scientists who fled from the Nazi regime. He was responsible for establishing folklore as a field of study in anthropology and also made a major contribution to the field of linguistics. To him goes the credit of establishing it as a science in America. He continues to influence many scholars and researchers in all the fields of anthropology.