William Armand Lessa (1908-1997) was assigned to the postwar allied administration of Italy as a military government official administering towns and other population units. In 1947, he joined the UCLA Anthropology Department. He investigated comparative religion, myth and ritual, while doing field work in Oceania, China and Hawaii. The collection consists of papers relating to the postwar allied administration of Italy. Includes notes for and a copy of Lessa's book, Spearhead governatore: remembrances of the campaign in Italy (1985).

Lessa was born in 1908; he received his Ph.D from the University of Chicago; joined the UCLA Anthropology Department in 1947; investigated comparative religion, myth and ritual, while doing field work in Oceania, China and Hawaii; books include An appraisal of constitutional typologies (1943), The ethnography of Ulithi Atoll (1950), and More tales from Ulithi Atoll: a content analysis (1980); Lessa retired in 1970; he died on October 14, 1997 in Los Angeles.

9 boxes (4.5 linear ft.)

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