Alan Entwistle (1949-1996) (fwd)

[Frank Conlon]

Dear Friends:

Our colleague and friend Alan Entwistle died this morning after a two
month battle against the effects of a brain tumor.  I attach an obituary
which I posted to H-ASIA a moment ago.

Frank Conlon
------------
From: Frank Conlon <conlon at u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: H-Net list for Asian History and Culture <H-ASIA at msu.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list H-ASIA <H-ASIA at msu.edu>
Subject: H-ASIA: Alan Entwistle (1949-1996)

                             H-ASIA
                         March 28, 1996

Alan Entwistle (1949-1996)
*****************************************************************
From: Frank F. Conlon <conlon at u.washington.edu>

It is with deep sadness that I report the death this morning,
March 28, 1996, of Professor Alan Entwistle of the University of
Washington, a distinguished scholar, esteemed college and
wonderful human being.  Shortly after joining our faculty in
1986, Alan was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  He
endured severe radiation and chemotherapy treatments and
experienced a remission which enabled him to enjoy nearly a
decade of further research and teaching.  However in the past
autumn, when he had taken up a Senior Fellowship of the American
Institute of Indian Studies during a long postponed sabbatical
leave in India, he experienced unmistakable signs that the
remission had ended.  He was forced to return to Seattle in
January, 1996.

Alan Entwistle was born in Weymouth, England, March 10, 1949.  He
completed undergraduate studies with an honors B.A. in French at
the University of Southhampton in 1971.  Subsequently he entered
the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of
London, earning an M. A. in South Asia Area Studies in 1975.  In
1982 he completed a Ph.D. in Hindi, writing a dissertation "The
_Rasa mana ke pada_ of Kevalarama, a Medieval Hindi Text of the
Eighth Gaddi of the Vallabha Sampradaya," under the supervision
of Professor J. C. Wright, Dr. R. D. Gupta and Dr. R. S.
McGregor.

of Groningen in The Netherlands where he taught Hindi language
and courses on Indian civilization, iconography, religion and
literature.  He joined the faculty of the Department of Asian
Languages and Literature in 1986, being promoted to the rank of
Associate Professor with tenure in September, 1990.  Here at
Seattle Alan distinguished himself as an effective and dedicated
teacher of Hindi language and literature, as well as teaching
courses on Indian devotional literature , Hinduism, Indian
iconography and a graduate seminar on Religion in Comparative
Perspective.  Thus, in addition to his many contributions within
his department Alan also worked within the University of
Washington's South Asia and Comparative Religion programs in the
Jackson School of International Studies.

Alan Entwistle's scholarly contributions to the study of India
and Indian religions are distinguished by their careful attention
to both philological linguistic issues of translation of texts
and a broad emphasis upon contexts

Alan Entwistle's scholarship was grounded in a thorough
linguistic and literary training which maintained and extended a
standard of excellence which combined close attention to both
philological issues of text and cultural context.  In 1981 he co-
edited (with H. T. Bakker), _Vaisnavism: the history of the Krsna
and Rama cults and their contribution to Indian pilgrimage_
(Groningen: Instituut voor Indische Talen en Culturen) within
which he was author of chapters on the history of Vaishnavism as
well as an appendix "Notes on the Hindu Calendar and Vaisnava
Festivals."  In 1983 he also published _The Rasa mana ke pada of
Kevalarama: a medieval Hindi text of the Eighth Gaddi of the
Vallabha sect_ [republished in revised edition in 1993] and co-
edited (again with H. T. Bakker), _Devi: the worship of the
goddess and its contribution to Indian pilgrimage_ which included
his essay "Varieties of Devi."

In 1987, Alan published an extraordinary work--a multi-
dimensional study of medieval Indian cultural history.  It's
title, _Braj: Centre of Krishna Pilgrimage_ (Groningen: Egbert
Forsten).  In my view, this book did not receive the wide
distribution it deserved.  I think its significance and its form
reflected all that was so uniquely strong in Alan's career.  Jack
Hawley recently wrote of the Braj book:

     "It earns him [Alan] a place in The Great Annals,
     wherever they are kept.  It's not just the scope of the
     work, which is wonderful, but the trustworthiness of
     all of it--those dense footnotes, which serve as the
     best meeting place for scholarship and thought about
     Braj over the course of the last 50 years, perhaps 100.
     It is a remarkable thing to have accomplished--and it
     is made the more remarkable by the way in which he has
     accomplished it: not self-effacingly, surely, but with
     a smile and quietly and without calling particular
     attention to the magnitude of what he was doing."

In 1994 Alan co-edited, with Francoise Mallison, _Studies in
South Asian Devotional Literature: Research Papers 1988-91
(Delhi: Manohar).  At the time of his final illness, he was
working on a work in "Readings in Medieval Rajasthani (Dingal)"
for the SOAS South Asian Texts series and a critical edition and
translation of _Acaldas Khici ri vacanika_ (The Tale of Acaldas
Khici, a 15th century historical ballad from Rajasthan.)

Alan's colleagues and students (and in a sense they were one and
the same) in India, Europe and America will miss his presence for
a very long while.  He moved us to seek to achieve a higher level
of excellence than might "just do."  His life was a lesson in the
art of living with a quiet grace and steadiness of both purpose
and nature, who always put the subject of investigation in the
foreground.

Alan is survived by his sister Janet and a world full of friends.
Memorial service arrangements are pending.


Frank F. Conlon
University of Washington
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