Children's folklorist Jean-Pierre Rossie was born in Belgium in 1940. He studied social work (1958-1961) and African ethnology at the State University of Ghent (1963-1968). In 1973 he received a PhD in African history and philology from the State University of Ghen for a thesis on the theme of Child and Society.

Rossie served as researcher at the National Foundation for Scientific Research, Brussels, from 1968 to 1978. In 1975-1977 he undertook fieldwork on children's socialization among the semi-nomadic Ghrib of the Tunisian Sahara. This led to his decision to focus on children's play, games and toys in the Saharan and North African regions. Rossie conducted intensive research which documented the way children played with the specific toys, and gathered a collection of toys that provides a rare glimpse into children's play in Morocco. Parts of the collection are now held at Museum Victoria. Rossie has published several articles on the subject, including Play and Folklore 47: 3-8, 52: 4-8 and 60: 4-9. Rossie's research and publications in this area continued to be supported by the National Foundation for Scientific Research until 1992.

In the 1980s Rossie worked as a social worker and sociocultural anthropologist in Ghent, Belgium, focusing on services to Turkish and North African migrants. He continued to study Saharan and North African play, games and toys, and analysed the large toy collection from these regions in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. In February 1992 Rossie undertook his first research trip to Morocco, and has subsequently undertaken annual research work on Moroccan children's play, games and toys.

In 2005 he began writing a series of books about Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. In 2021 Rossie published the collection Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures online. Both books are available in an English as well as in a French version. The complete list of books in the mentioned collection, is found in the starting pages of each book.

Rossie, Jean-Pierre, Jariaa, Khalija, Daoumani, Boubaker & Fassoulas, Argyris (2021). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Make-believe play among Amazigh children of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas. Foreword by Luisa Magalhães, Braga: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, 2 volumes, 739 p., 638 ills. Available on Academia.edu:

English:
Volume 1: https://www.academia.edu/42967387
Volume 2: https://www.academia.edu/42968584

French :
Volume 1: https://www.academia.edu/42968426
Volume 2: https://www.academia.edu/42976037

Rossie, Jean-Pierre (2021). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Commented bibliography on play, games and toys. Braga: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, 81 p. Available on:

English: https://www.academia.edu/6486087
French: https://www.academia.edu/6486121

Rossie's other publications include:

Rossie, J-P. (2015). Saharan - North African - Amazigh Children's Toy Catalogs: Donation to Centro per la Cultura Ludica in Turin. Braga: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Catholic University of Portugal, 93, 179 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2015). Saharan - North-African - Amazigh Children's Toy Catalogs: Donation to Musée du Jouet de Moirans-en-Montagne, first part: dolls and toy animals, Braga: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Catholic University of Portugal, 72, 127 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2005). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Children's dolls and doll play. Foreword by Dominique Champault, Stockholm International Toy Research Centre, Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 328, 163 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2005). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. The animal world in play, games and toys. Foreword by Theo van Leeuwen, Stockholm International Toy Research Centre, Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 219, 107 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2008). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Domestic life in play, games and toys. Foreword by Gilles Brougère, Stockholm International Toy Research Centre, Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 438 p., 410 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2011). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Commented bibliography on play, games and toys. Stockholm International Toy Research Centre, Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 72.
Rossie, J-P. (2013). Saharan and North African Toy and Play Cultures. Technical activities in play, games and toys. Foreword by Sudarshan Khanna, Braga: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Catholic University of Portugal, 360, 350 ill.
Rossie, J-P. (2013). Toys, Play, Culture and Society. An anthropological approach with reference to North Africa and the Sahara. Foreword by Brian Sutton-Smith, Stockholm International Toy Research Centre, Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 256, 144 ill. - digitized version of the 2005 edition with the original colour photographs.

Other books available on the internet:

Academia.edu : https://independent.academia.edu/JeanPierreRossie
Scribd : https://www.scribd.com/jean_pierre_rossie



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