[INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone

[Smith, Frederick M]

Dear Indology-janāḥ,

I met Johannes in 1973 in Pune. I was just beginning my MA in Sanskrit at the Centre for Advanced Study in Sanskrit (CASS) at (then) Poona University. I believe he was finishing up that year, after migrating to Pune from Jaipur a couple of years earlier to study vyākaraṇa, as was most fitting for Pune. I was  much closer to a beginner than I should have been at the time, and quite out of my element in the MA classes on the Siddhāntakaumudī taught by SD Joshi (a required course in the curriculum), in which Johannes excelled. Dr. Joshi paced rapidly and non-stop from one end of the room to the other, like a caged animal, for the entire hour of every class, never referring to a book or a text; such was his extraordinary pāṇḍitya and energy. The only time he would stop would be to ask, usually once or twice in every class, “Bronkhorst, what question do you have?” Johannes would almost always have a question, usually quite a penetrating one, to the delight of Dr. Joshi, who would then divert his lecture to answer it fully. Clearly, Dr. Joshi saw that Johannes was a challenging student with a bright future.

Like Robert Z, Johannes sent me packets of publications every year until that was superseded by the ease of sending electronic copies, which followed until just a few years ago. The fact that Johannes had initially studied mathematics was, I understood at the time, a close predecessor to his expertise in Sanskrit, in vyākaraṇa, in śāstra. When I was in Pune last November, someone informed me that he was “keeping indifferent health.” He was a highly valued friend and colleague. We were fortunate to have him in our midst for more than half a century.

Kind regards
Fred Smith



From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Robert Zydenbos via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
To: indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: [External] Re: [INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone
This is devastating news. I knew Johannes 'only' since 1996 or so; he was a knowledgeable colleague full of humour. I also had the privilege of receiving a parcel with offprints of his most recently published articles once a year for several years, until the sheer output of his gigantic productivity (for those of you who are unaware of that: just have a look at his page at Academia.edu) made him decide to send an email with download links instead. An amazing man and a huge loss to all of us.

RZ


Harry Falk via INDOLOGY wrote on 14.05.25 20:47:


Dear friends and colleagues,

I have just received the news that Johannes Bronkhorst left this world

today at noon in a controlled manner, as was his custom, together with his

beloved wife Joy Manné.

He sent the last batch of his papers just a few days ago. He will be

remembered as an innovative and inspired scientist, a cheerful person and

a true and dear friend.

Sadly.

Harry Falk

--
Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos / ಪ್ರೊ. ಡಾ. ರೊಬೆರ್ತ್ ಜೆಯ್ದೆನ್ಬೊಸ್ (retd.)
Institute of Indology and Tibetology
Department of Asian Studies
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (University of Munich – LMU)
Germany
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