[INDOLOGY] [RISA-L LIST] Passing of Ludo Rocher

[Greg Bailey]

Dear List,

Let us not also forget Ludo's excellent work on the Purāṇas, his book on
which I still use all the time.

He was a real gentleman and a pleasure to be with at conferences.

Condolences to Rosane.

Greg Bailey

On 4/11/16 9:12 AM, "Korom, Frank J" <korom at bu.edu> wrote:

>I wasn't even Ludo's student, but he always took an interest in me and my
>work. He took me to lunch at the Penn Faculty Club several times and even
>hosted my ex-wife and I at the Rocher Poconos cabin. I saw him last in
>Kolkata during the winter of 2004, where he spent every day at the
>Asiatic Society Library. There are very few professors left in the world
>as dedicated as he was.
>
>Condolences,
>
>Frank J. Korom
>Boston University
>Professor of Religion & Anthropology
>
>Sent by a human being who has no control over auto correct.
>
>> On Nov 3, 2016, at 6:05 PM, "Nemec, John William (nemec) (jwn3y)"
>><jwn3y at eservices.virginia.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> I am so saddened to hear the news of Ludo's passing. His excellence as
>>a Sanskritist was surpassed only by his excellence as a human being. He
>>was a friend, my dissertation mentor, a model and a guide. I'll never
>>forget his avuncular style, sense of humor, clarity of mind, and
>>generosity. The man had a steel spine; he was strong in all the good
>>ways, yet deeply compassionate. I never knew him to be afraid of
>>anything; and he enjoyed life. A steady, kind soul. I will miss him.
>> 
>> John
>> 
>> 
>>> On Nov 3, 2016, at 3:58 PM, Olivelle, J P <jpo at austin.utexas.edu>
>>>wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear Friends:
>>> 
>>> To add to the fine eulogy of Fred, the last book authored by Ludo was
>>>published just a couple of months before his passing, thanks to the
>>>work of our colleague Federico Squarcini:
>>> 
>>> Vyavahārasaukya: The Treatise on Legal Procedure in the Ṭoḍarānanda
>>>composed at the Instance of Ṭoḍaramalla during the Reign of Akbar.
>>>Firenze: Società Editrica Fiorentina, 2916.
>>> 
>>> His Keine Schriften were edited by Don Davis:
>>> 
>>> Studies in Hindu Law and Dharmaśāstra. London: Anthem Press, 2012.
>>> 
>>> With best wishes,
>>> 
>>> Patrick Olivelle
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Nov 3, 2016, at 2:42 PM, Smith, Frederick M
>>><frederick-smith at uiowa.edu<mailto:frederick-smith at uiowa.edu>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear RISA-L sahṛdayas,
>>> 
>>> Several of Professor Ludo Rocher’s former students learned this
>>>morning of his passing last night, at age 90, peacefully, at his home
>>>in Philadelphia. Ludo was more than a mentor and guide for his
>>>students, myself included. He was a lifetime friend and a role model of
>>>scholarship, elegance, positivity, dignity, and, not least for many of
>>>us, of how to act in a most congenial manner as a department chair in
>>>the face of truculent administrators and colleagues. He was the chair
>>>of the Department of Oriental Studies (later renamed Asian and Middle
>>>Eastern Studies), and the Department of South Asian Studies, at the
>>>University of Pennsylvania for twenty-four years, and taught actively
>>>for nearly forty years, from 1966-2004. He mentored not just his own
>>>students, but many of his students’ students. He was a paragon of
>>>knowledge, virtue, and love for his work. He was born in Antwerp in
>>>1926, spent several years in India in the 1950s, then returned
>>>repeatedly, usually to Kolkata. Much of his work took him to archives
>>>in London, Germany, and elsewhere. He is survived by his wife, the
>>>wonderful Rosane Rocher, whose indefatigable love and ministrations
>>>kept him alive and at work for at least fifteen years beyond what was
>>>expected at the time. Rosane was not just his wife, but collaborator on
>>>many of his works, in addition to being a fine scholar in her own
>>>right. Ludo was one of the most visible and important scholars of
>>>Dharmaśāstra of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I will leave
>>>it to others to add more. I will, however, add only one note – His
>>>Sanskrit was awesome, his versatility was unparalleled, and he
>>>constantly made the most difficult passages completely transparent
>>>through his complete understanding of the grammar and the lucidity of
>>>his presentation, whether it was in graduate classes, in is careful
>>>reading of dissertations, or anything in his extravagantly long list of
>>>publications. Hopefully, this list. Including his most recent book,
>>>published this year(!), will be forthcoming soon.
>>> 
>>> Kind regards
>>> Fred Smith
>>> University of Iowa
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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