EVANS-WENTZ, Walter Yeeling (born Wentz, added his mother’s surname c. 1910). Trento, N.J. 2.2.1878 — Encinitas, Calif. 17.7.1966. U.S. Traveller, Anthropologist and Tibetologist. Son of Christopher Wentz, a wealthy estate owner from New Jersey with German origin, and Mary Evans Cook, of Irish descent. Originally Baptist, his father turned to…
ERSKINE, William. Edinburgh 8.11.1773 — Edinburgh 20.5.1852. British (Scottish) Civil Servant and Lawyer. 1804-23 in India. Son of David E., a lawyer, and Jean Melvin. Educated at Royal High School and Edinburgh University (dr. iuris). He “was a lawyer’s apprentice, 1792-9, went to India in 1803-4 with Sir James Mackintosh”,…
ERGARDT, Jan. 1936 — 23.12.1992. Swedish Scholar of Comparative Religion, especially Buddhism. Ph.D. 1970 Lund. He taught at Lund University and died after long illness. He applied his knowledge of modern psychology to interpretation of Buddhism. Publications: Diss. Buddhismen i Västerlandet: Undersökning av engelsk buddhism under 1900-talet. 538 p. Lund…
ELIOT, Charles Norton Edgcumbe. Sibford Gower, Oxfordshire 8.1.1862 — Strait of Malacca 16./17.3.1931. Sir. British Oriental Scholar and Diplomat. Son of Edward E., a curate, and Elizabeth Harriet Wyatt Watling. Educated at Cheltenham College, studies from 1880 at Balliol College, Oxford (classical philology, also Sanskrit). From 1886 in diplomatic service:…
EITEL, Ernst Johann (Ernest John E.). Esslingen am Neckar 13.2.1838 — Adelaide 10.11.1908. German Missionary in China, Sinologist and Buddhist Scholar. Son of a cook, school at Esslingen. Studies at Schönthal Seminary and Tübingen University (Ph.D. 1871). A missionary of the Basel Protestant Mission in China from 1862. As his…
EDGERTON, Franklin. Lemars, Iowa 24.7.1885 — Laramie, Wyoming 7.12.1963. U.S. Indologist. Professor in New Haven. Son of a civil servant, Charles Eugene E., and Annie Benedict White, his younger brothers were the lawyer Henry White E. (1888–1970) and the Egyptologist William Franklin E. (1893–1970). Though born in the West, the…
ECKE, Emil-Wilhelm-Gustav. Bonn 13.6.1896 — Honolulu 18.12.1971. German Art Historian in China and U.S.A. Son of Gustav Ecke (1855–1920), Professor of Theology. From 1914 studies at Bonn, Berlin and Erlangen. Ph.D. 1922, on European art. In 1923 went to China, taught at several universities there: 1923-28 Amoy University, 1928-33 at…
DUTOIT, Julius Franz Gustav. Darmstadt 13.3.1872 — Munich 17.6.1958. German Indologist (Pāli Scholar). Son of a teacher of modern languages. Matriculated from the Gymnasium of Darmstadt in 1890. In 1890-93 studied classical philology at Munich, Giessen, and again Munich (also Indology under E. Kuhn). As student became Roman Catholic. Ph.D.…
DUROISELLE, Charles. Paris 25.6.1871 — Paris 7.4.1951. French Archaeologist and Pāli Scholar in Burma. Son of François Victor D., a designer, and Clara Lorichon. From 1903 correspondant of É.F.E.O. In 1909 Honorary Keeper of Manuscripts in Bernard Free Library, Rangoon. Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of Burma from 1912 or…
DRESDEN, Mark Jan. Amsterdam 26.4.1911 — Philadelphia 16.8.1986. Dutch Indologist and Iranian scholar in the U.S.A. Citizen of the U.S.A., Professor in Philadelphia. Son of the composer Sem Dr. (1881–1957) and Jacoba Dhont, educated in Amsterdam. Studies of classical and especially Indo-Iranian philology at Amsterdam, B.A. 1933, M.A. 1937 (under…