ARIS, Michael Vaillancourt. Havana, Cuba 7.3.1946 — Oxford 27.3.1999. British Tibetan Scholar, Specialist of Bhutan. Son of English father (John Arundel Aris, a British Council Officer) and Canadian French mother (Josette Vaillancourt), one of identical twins (brother Anthony Aris). Educated at Worth School in Sussex, then studied modern history at…
ANDERSEN, Dines. Ullerslev, Fyn 26.12.1861 — Copenhagen 28.3.1940. Danish Indologist (Pāli Scholar). Son of mill builder Dines Andersen (1833–1861) and Christine Poulsen (1833–1914), lost his father before his birth. Supported by patrons, he attended the Latin School in Odense in 1877-81. Studied from 1881 at Copenhagen Classical and Scandinavian philology,…
ANANDA METTEYYA THERA, Buddhist monastic name of —> BENNETT, C. H. A.
ALSDORF, Ludwig Wilhelm. Laufersweiler near Kirchberg in Hunsrück 8.8.1904 — Buchholz-Sprötze, Kr. Harburg 25.3.1978. German Indologist. Professor in Hamburg. Son of a minister, Hermann Alsdorf and Emilie Chelius. In 1911 the family moved to Scheidt in Saarland. He went to school in Saarbrücken (Ludwigs-Gymnasium). Began his studies in 1922 at…
ALABASTER, Henry. Hastings 22.5.1836 — Bangkok 8.8.1884. British Diplomat in South-East Asia, interested in Buddhism. Son of James Chaloner Alabaster and Harriet Woodman, educated at King’s College, London. Served as interpreter to British consulate-general in Bangkok 1864-71 (Wikipedia says from 1856), finally acting consul. Returned then to England and lived…
ABEL-RÉMUSAT, Jean-Pierre. Paris 5.9.1788 — Paris 4.6.1832 (or 2.6.). French Sinologist and Buddhist Scholar. Son of a physician. As an early accident bound him for years to bed and deprived him of one eye, he is said to have sought for compensation in studies and writing and made rapid progress.…
ABEGG, Emil. Küsnacht near Zürich 11.1.1885 — Zürich 12.2.1962. Swiss Indologist. Professor in Zürich. Son of merchant Emil Abegg (d. 1894) and Fanny Guggenbühl, school and teacher’s college in Küsnacht. Learned Sanskrit first by himself, then from 1904 studied Germanistics, psychology, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit (under Kaegi) at Zürich University.…
AALTO, Pentti. Pori 22.7.1917 — Helsinki 30.11.1998. Finnish Classical Scholar, Linguist, Altaist and Indologist. Son of shop assistant Martti Johannes Aalto and Martta Elisabeth Lindroos. Matriculation from Porin lyseo in 1935, then studies of comparative, oriental and classical philology at Helsinki University: M.A. 1939, Lic. Phil. 1949, Ph.D. 1949. During…