RICHARDSON, Hugh Edward. St.Andrews 22.12.1905 — St.Andrews 3.12.2000. British (Scottish) Tibetologist. Son of an army medical officer, Colonel Hugh Richardson, and grandson of an I.C.S. officer (Henry Cockburn R.), his mother was Elizabeth McClean. After Trinity School in Glenalmond studied classics at Keble College, Oxford. In 1928 (or 1930?) he joined the I.C.S. and served i.al. in East Bengal and on leave visited Tibetan border and started learning Tibetan. In 1934 transferred to Foreign and Political Department, served under Sir Basil Gould in Baluchistan and Sikkim. In February 1937 he accompanied Gould to Lhasa and remained there as the Head of the just established British Mission. He served there, with long interval 1939-46, eight years, until September 1950, the last years representing the Government of India. His leisure times he devoted to the study of history (with epigraphy) and culture of Tibet, which became his main occupation in retirement. Its results he began publishing in 1949. Except a period as visiting Professor at University of Washington in Seattle he stayed in St.Andrews. O.B.E. 1944, C.I.E. 1947. Honorary Ph.D. 199? St.Andrews. Married 1951 Huldah Elizabeth Rennie (née Walker, 1907–1995), two stepchildren.
Richardson was the founder of the Tibet Society (1959) and a tough defender of the case of Tibet in politics. In his leisure he was fond of ornithology, botany, gardening, and golf (which he introduced in Tibet).
Publications: With Basil Gould: Tibetan Word Book. 16+447 p. O.U.P. 1943; Tibetan Syllables. 10+120 p. O.U.P. 1943; Tibetan Sentences. 5+137 p. O.U.P. 1943.
– Tibet and its History. 9+302 p. 17 pl. L. 1962 = A Short History of Tibet. N.Y. 1962.
– With D. Snellgrove: A Cultural History of Tibet. 291 p. L. 1968.
– Ch’ing Dynasty Inscriptions at Lhasa. S.O.R. 47. Rome 1974.
– A corpus of early Tibetan inscriptions. L. 1985; Ceremonies of the Lhasa year. 138 p. L. 1993.
– Numerous articles, partly republ. in: High Peaks, Pure Earth. Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture. Ed. by M. Aris. 21+776 p. L. 1998; Richardson papers. Contributed to the Bulletin of Tibetology (1965–1992) by H.R. Ed. by J. K. Rechung. 169 p. Gangtok 1993.
Sources: Roger Croston 2001 in himalaya-socanth.cam.ac.uk; Cl. Freeman in tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk with photo; Alex McKay, IIAS Newsletter 24, 2001, 18 (with photo); *Festschrift with bibliography, 1979; Wikipedia with photo.
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