[INDOLOGY] Fwd: Prof. Charles Willeemen is no more

[Shrikant Bahulkar]

I am very sad to inform you that Prof. Dr Charles Willemen, an eminent
Buddhologist, passed away two days ago. He was 82. Prof Lalji Shravak, BHU,
Varanasi, received an email informing him of this.
Prof. Willemen made an outstanding contribution to Buddhist Studies. He
started his career in Buddhist Studies with an M.A. in East-Asian Studies
(Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit) in 1968-69. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in
1971 in East-Asian Studies on The Chinese Udānavarga. He was privileged to
work with eminent Buddhist scholars, such as Prof. H. Nakamura, Tokyo.
He used to visit the K. J. Somaiya Centre for Buddhist Studies, Somaiya
Vidyavihar University, Mumbai and deliver lectures on Buddhism. I was
fortunate to attend his lectures some years ago at the Department of Pali
and Buddhist Studies, Savitribai Phule University, Pune. I was amazed to
see the depth of his knowledge and independent thinking.
I requested that he contribute his article to the Annals of the Bhandarkar
Oriental Research Institute (ABORI), Pune when I was the chief editor of
that journal. He kindly submitted his article on “Xuangzang about
Avalokiteśvara, Jibin, and Madhyāntika.” It was an important contribution.
(ABORI, Vol. XCIV, (2013) 2017, p. 111–123).
Some time ago, I tried to get information about him. I was informed that he
lived in Belgium and had not travelled since the pandemic. I got no more
information. I emailed him on June 23, 2022, but I did not get a reply.
The news of his sudden demise has saddened all of us. We have lost a great
scholar and a very kind person. I cannot forget our informal chats and his
witty comments.
May his soul rest in peace.
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