The Dutch anthropologist Reinie Raatgever died in Miélan, France, on 24 June 2013. She came from a milieu of devout Protestant Christians in the Province of Zeeland -- part of the Netherlands' 'Bible Belt'. She was married with the anthropologist Pieter van Dijk, who occupied a major position at OESO, Paris, and had one child, Julian. Reinie's inclinations towards Marxism alienated her from her parental background, but made her an inspiring member of the Amsterdam Working Group on Marxist Anthropology (1977-1982), where she contributed much of the theoretical framework that was applied to the ethnographic contributions of the other members. Her contributions to that Workgroup's two books (the first one in Dutch, followed in 1985 by a much elaborated English version with Kegan Paul, London: Old modes of production and capitalist encroachment; now a Google Book) are by far the more theoretically grounded and show an enormous erudition in (neo-)Marxist studies. After her MA studies in anthropology at the Free University, Amsterdam, she took a PhD at the same university with:

Raatgever, H.J., 1988, 'De verwantschappelijke economie: Essays in de historisch-materialistische antropologie', Ph.D. thesis, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

For a few years she taught anthropology at various universities, but soon she had to devote most of her time to the extreme medical problems of her son. In the early 2000s Reinie participated in Wim van Binsbergen's seminar on Intercultural Philosophy at Rotterdam. When the Workgroup regrouped again in 2011, after some 30 years, it tried in vain to re-establish contact with Reinie. Two years later the announcement of her death comes as a terrible shock. She was the theoretical conscience of our group, a dear and loyal friend, and an unforgettably heroic example of maternal love and care. In her loving memory her widower produced a little book Reinie Raatgever: Reflecties van een antropologe, in which two of her essays have been republished.