English: Professor Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra (1929-2020) was an eminent anthropologist from Odisha, India who taught at Utkal University from 1964 to 1989 and was Vice-Chancellor of Utkal and Sambalpur Universities as well. A pioneer in India in the fields of Development Anthropology and Population Anthropology in addition to research in other world cultures (South East Asia), Professor Mahapatra was also a consultant to UNESCO and the World Bank.