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The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Professor Croll was born in Reefton, and completed BA and MA degrees in history at Canterbury University.
She continued to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, gaining a second master's degree in Far Eastern Studies, then a doctorate in the anthropology of China in 1977.
In 1990 she was appointed lecturer in anthropology at SOAS, where she rose rapidly to professor at the University of London in 1995.
The first anthropologist to penetrate obscure rural villages in China at a time when political reasons made access difficult for outsiders, Professor Croll won the trust of the Chinese.
Her innovative fieldwork examined the role of women, the family and rural life in post-Mao China. She made intense two-week research trips into the depths of rural China, sharing a bed with an entire peasant family, and going to the lavatory in a pigsty.
Her New Zealand history degree helped her interpret social developments in post-Mao China in an historical context, while her anthropology training gave her a fresh perspective on the practical implications of state policy on marriage and the family.
Earlier this year, she was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to higher education, especially in promoting understanding of China's social development - but died before she could receive the award from the Queen.
Her first book, Feminism and Socialism in China (1978), was a pioneering study of the Chinese women's movement and marked the start of a prolific publishing career.
Many of her works are today considered standard texts for courses on China's development.
She was mainly known in New Zealand as Lisa Spracket, but changed her name in 1966 when she married Jim Croll. Her haven in Britain was a caravan at Hayling Island, near Portsmouth, where the sea and sky reminded her of New Zealand.
She is survived by a son and a daughter.
