DOMENICO DA FANO (Dominicus a Fano,lay Francesco Magnani). 1674 — 1728. Father. Italian Capuchin Missionary, in Tibet in 1706-11and 1716-25, with interval in Europe. He was the Head of the Capuchin Mission in Lhasa, until his death, when he was succeeded by —> Orazio Della Penna. Started the quarrel against…
DESIDERI, Ippolito. Pistoia, Tuscany 21.12.1684 — Rome 14.8.1733. S.J. Italian Missionary and a Pioneer of Tibetology, in Tibet in 1715-21, in India 1714-15, 1721-27, last years in Rome. Son of Iacopo D. and Maria Maddalena Cappellini, a patrician family, educated at Jesuit school in Pistoia. Joined Jesuits in 1700 and…
DESGODINS, Auguste. Manheulles (Meuse) 16.10.1826 — Padang (Pedong) near Darjeeling 14.3.1913. Father. French Missionary and Tibetan Scholar. Son of Charles Michel François Desgodins, an officer, and Marie Joséphine de Roton. Studied theology in the seminaries of Verdun and Saint-Sulpice, ordained priest in 1850. After a few years as priest in…
DEMIÉVILLE, Paul Henri. Lausanne 13.9.1894 — Paris 23.3.1979. French (born Swiss) Sinologist and Buddhist scholar. Professor in Paris. Son of Paul D. (1855–1947, Professor of Medicine at Lausanne) and Annette Manuel. After gymnasium in Bern studied history of music and Russian at Munich, London, Edinburgh and Paris, dr. degree in…
DAVID-NÉEL, Alexandra (née Louise Eugènie Alexandrine Marie David). St.Mandé (Seine) 24.10.1868 — Digne (Basses-Alpes) 8.9.1969. French Bauddha and Traveller. The only child of Louis Pierre David, a huguenot freemason and ardent republican, also a journalist and teacher , and Alexandrine Borleman, a Catholic Belgian. From 1873 grew up in Belgium.…
DANTINNE, Jean. Liège 1930 — 1996. Belgian Buddhist Scholar (Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan). Studies of Buddhist philology, Chinese and Japanese at Louvain (Leuven, i.al. under Lamotte) 1964-66, also Indology at Liège. From 1975 Lecturer in Modern and Classical Chinese at Liège, then Professor (?) at Louvain-la-neuve (1983). But if he was…
DANDARON, Bidija Dandarovič. Kižinga, Buryatia 15.12.1914 — Vydrino, Buryatia 26.10.1974. Russian Buryat Lama, Tibetologist and Buddhist Scholar. Son of Dorji Badmaev, a Tantric practitioner, and Balžima Abudueva. In 1921 he was declared the heir of Lobsang Samdan and in 1924 succeeded him as formal head of the Vajrayānic Balagat movement.…
CYBIKOV, Gombožab Cèbekovič (G. Tsöbikov, G. Tsèbègèj, born G. Montuev). Urdo-Aga, district Čita, Transbaikalia 20.4.1873 — Aginskoe, Burjatia 20.9.1930. Russian Buryat Scholar of Buddhism. Son of Cèbek Montujev, a literate and well-to-do Buryat. After gymnasium in Čita (one of the first four Buryat students admitted) studies of medicine at Tomsk,…
CSOMA DE KŐRÖS, Alexander (Kőrösi Csoma Sándor). Kőrös, Kovászna, Transylvania (now Chiuruş, Covasna in Romania) 27.3.1784 — Darjeeling 11.4.1842. Hungarian Tibetologist, in Ladakh and India 1822-42. Born of poor parents, András Csoma, a peasant and soldier, and Krisztina Getse (Ilona Göcz), belonging to the military nobility known as Székely (Sicules). Birth…
COUVREUR, Walter. Antwerpen 25.7.1914 — Edegem, Prov. Antwerpen 17.9.1996. Belgian Linguist and Scholar of Tocharian. After school in Antwerpen studies at Leuven, also under Sieg at Göttingen. Ph.D. Leuven 1936 in Oriental languages and 1938 in Classics. In 1938-44 researcher of Nationaal Fonds van Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Brussels. From 1945…