[INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone

Thu May 15 07:44:36 UTC 2025

I can chime in on what Isabelle and others have written regarding his
ability to make younger scholars feel at ease. Johannes allowed me to speak
at the wonderful Sāṃkhya-Yoga conference he organised in November 1998 in
Lausanne (proceedings in Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques LIII.3
[1999]). It was my first conference. I was only 25 at the time, had just
received my Dutch *doctoraal* degree, with no further credentials to show,
but he allowed me into the inner circle of specialists (all major scholars)
to present my findings. He made it all seem natural. I am daunted looking
back now at the people who were present there at the time.

Peter Bisschop

On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 8:34 AM Isabelle Ratie via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Johannes was exquisitely learned, and driven by a seemingly boundless
> intellectual curiosity. As so many have noted, he was also a delightfully
> warm person who could make younger scholars feel instantly at ease in his
> towering presence. He will be sorely missed.
> Isabelle Ratié
>
>
>
> Le jeu. 15 mai 2025 à 06:35, Borayin Larios via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :
>
>> This morning I woke up to the shock of the passing of Professor Johannes
>> Bronkhorst. A towering figure in our field whose erudition was matched only
>> by his sharp wit and humor.
>>
>> I had the privilege to study under Johannes in Lausanne, where he taught
>> me Sanskrit and Indology. His classes were never dull—always infused with
>> the excitement of his ongoing research, his relentless curiosity, and his
>> insistence that no academic or religious tradition should ever be taken for
>> granted. As a teacher, he was tough, especially when it came to Sanskrit,
>> but also profoundly generous. I was not especially close to him, perhaps
>> because I admired him too much, and because I was never quite the
>> Sanskritist he might have hoped for in a student. But he taught me more
>> than language—he taught me to think critically and carefully, to question
>> even the foundations of tradition, and to take ideas seriously.
>>
>> After my studies in Lausanne, I went on to pursue my PhD in Heidelberg.
>> Though my topic—living Vedic traditions—was quite distant from his own
>> historical and philological training, he was fascinated by it. And though
>> ethnography and the contemporary were not really his cup of tea, he let me
>> go my way with curiosity. I still remember how happy he was when I got my
>> PhD. It felt like a turning point in our relationship. We always talked at
>> conferences and were genuinely happy to see each other. I had even been
>> thinking of finding a way to get him to Vienna this fall—something I now
>> regret deeply. I wish I had reached out sooner.
>>
>> Johannes leaves behind a prolific and provocative body of work, spanning
>> Vyākaraṇa, Vedic and Buddhist studies, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, Sāṅkhya,
>> Vedānta, Jainism, and Ājīvikism. He never saw his life as important outside
>> of his scholarship, but through that scholarship—and the uncompromising
>> integrity with which he pursued it—he offered us a vision of intellectual
>> rigor and personal courage that is deeply inspiring.
>>
>> Today, we mourn a teacher, a scholar, and a friend. But more than that,
>> we celebrate a life lived with deep thought, with honesty, and with joy.
>> Johannes has left us with his work—work that continues to teach, provoke,
>> and illuminate. And he has left us with the memory of a master who, even in
>> his final moments, was curious, generous, and fully alive.
>>
>> Thank you also Vincent for sharing so vividly about your last encounter
>> with him, it was very moving.
>>
>> May he be remembered with love and respect.
>>
>> Borayin Larios
>>
>> On Thu, May 15, 2025, 04:17 Smith, Frederick M via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20250515/541de436/attachment.htm>