BOELES, Jan Jetso. Leeuwarden 1909 — 2002. Dutch Businessman, Buddhist and South-East Asian Scholar. From 1935 until his death living in Thailand, except in 1940-45, when also studied South-East Asian archaeology at Leiden under N. J. Krom (also under Kuiper). For a while director of the Siam Society Research Centre.…
BLAIR, Chauncey Justus. Chicago 3.12.1913 — Chapel Hill, N.C. 1999. U.S. Indologist. Son of Chauncey Buckley Blair and Mildred Mitchell Marshall (or Paulette M. Picard?). Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania. In 1959 living in West Hyattsville, Maryland, in 1981 in Bowie, Maryland, and in 1986 in Franconia, N.B. Married 1953 Emma…
BILLARD, Roger Louis. Puteaux (Paris) 29.12.1922 — Mennecy near Paris 30.12.2000. French Indologist. He was of modest origin and had to work after school, but the post in the Oriental bookshop Adrien Maisonneuve led him to studies and he soon entered É.L.O.V. Studied Hindi, Khmer, Arabic and Chinese, also Sanskrit…
BETTS, Ursula Violet Graham (née U. V. G. Bower). Wiltshire 15.5.1914 — Fordingbridge, Hampshire 12.11.1988. British Anthropologist. Daughter of Commander John Graham Bower (1886–1940) of Royal Navy and Doris Violet Coghlan White (1893–1985). Educated at Roedean School, but family difficulties prevented planned studies of archaeology at Oxford. First visit to…
BERTRAND, Gabrielle. Reims 29.3.1908 — Paris 16.2.1961. French Traveller, Reporter, Writer and Photographer. Of Lorraine, lost her father in WW I. Studied at a hospital in Paris, but did not pass medical examination. Then she worked in various tasks and decided to become reporter. In 1933-35 travelled in North Africa,…
BERNOT, Lucien. Gien (Loiret) 2.12.1919 — Brantes (Vaucluse) 14.7.1993. French Anthropologist. Son of farmer, grew up in country, from the age of 14 worked as typographist. After WW II studied Chinese at É.L.O.V. (diploma 1947), then ethnography and Tibetan at É.P.H.É. In 1947-64 research scholar in C.N.R.S. In 1961-64 also…
BERESFORD, George Read Edward. London 3.8.1815 — Delhi 11.5.1857. British Banker in India. Son of Thomas Beresford (d. 1819) and Ann Blake, went to India in 1834-35. Manager of Cawnpur Bank, in 1849 transferred to become manager of Delhi Bank. “Massacred with his wife and five daughters … at the…
BELL, Thomas Evans. London 11.11.1825 — Kensington, London 12.9.1887. British Colonial Officer in India. Major. Son of William Bell and Elizabeth Kinnear, educated at Wandsworth (London). Joined Madras Army in 1842. In 1855-60 Assistant Commissioner in Nagpur, lost his position because of disagreement with Chief Commissioner. In 1861-63 Deputy Commissioner of…
BEALE, Thomas William. 1??? — Agra 1875. British Civil Servant and Oriental Scholar in India. Very little is known of his life. He worked as clerk in the office of Board of Revenue, North-Western Provinces. Assisted H. M. Elliot in his work about Muslim Indian history. “Died at a great…
BAUMER, Rachel Van Meter. 1928 — 15.3.1995. U.S. Indologist (Bengali). Student of T. W. Clark. Ph.D. 1964 University of Pennsylvania. First taught at Michigan State University, from 1970 at University of Minnesota, later in the 1970s Professor and chairperson of the South Asia Program at the University of Hawaii. Buried…