[INDOLOGY] sad news

Sun Aug 2 12:35:56 UTC 2026

Dear Elisa,

Thank you for sharing this news.  I cannot believe that Elliot is gone.  He seemed well to me, and so vital, thoughtful, and deliberate in all of our meetings together, reading and discussing Mīmāṃsā works.  (I feel we were about to ask him about an emendation, just this past week).

I always felt you, Elisa, had done so much to bring Elliot into the conversation, in Toronto and online.  His two volumes on Maṇḍana Miśra are landmarks and so extensive in their sheer work as well as erudition.  I am truly saddened by his passing; may he rest in peace, and may his family find peace.

As Ever,
John

___________________________________________
John Nemec, Ph.D.
Professor of Indian Religions and South Asian Studies
Department of Religious Studies
323 Gibson Hall, 1540 Jefferson Park Avenue
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904
+1 (434) 924-6716
nemec at virginia.edu
https://virginia.academia.edu/JNemec

Take a look at my new book:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/brahmins-and-kings-9780197791998?cc=us&lang=en&
________________________________
From: 'Nemec, John William (jwn3y)' via Board of Directors <Board at rocherfoundation.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2026 8:29 AM
To: Richard Lariviere <rwl at rocherfoundation.org>; Patrick Olivelle <jpo at rocherfoundation.org>
Cc: of Directors Board <Board at rocherfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] sad news

So terrible.  Elliot was such a great scholar.

___________________________________________
John Nemec, Ph.D.
Professor of Indian Religions and South Asian Studies
Department of Religious Studies
323 Gibson Hall, 1540 Jefferson Park Avenue
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904
+1 (434) 924-6716
nemec at virginia.edu
https://virginia.academia.edu/JNemec

Take a look at my new book:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/brahmins-and-kings-9780197791998?cc=us&lang=en&
________________________________
From: Richard Lariviere <rwl at rocherfoundation.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 1, 2026 3:58 PM
To: Patrick Olivelle <jpo at rocherfoundation.org>
Cc: of Directors Board <Board at rocherfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] sad news

I'm sorry to hear this. Elliot was part of our West Philly scene in the previous century.

Richard W. Lariviere, PhD
President
The Ludo and Rosane Rocher Foundation<http://rocherfoundation.org/>
[https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zt5y9qS4Wu4M9dakQ6vk1KhXeebHKJbPFR_Z4EAvAeYyT8qkS2lUtRzyrPHmu-wtaPhukH2OY]

On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 2:02 PM Patrick Olivelle <jpo at rocherfoundation.org<mailto:jpo at rocherfoundation.org>> wrote:
This news came as a shock. Elliot and I were grad students together in 1972-74—remember him always coming a few minutes late with a cup of coffee in hand!! As you know, we are publishing Freschi and Eliott’s edition of Maṇḍana Miśra.

Patrick

Begin forwarded message:

From: Elisa Freschi via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] sad news
Date: August 1, 2026 at 12:52:10 PM CDT
To: Indology <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Reply-To: elisa.freschi at gmail.com<mailto:elisa.freschi at gmail.com>

Dear colleagues and friends,

I write with a heavy heart to share the news of the passing of Elliot M. Stern, last Thursday. Elliot dedicated much of his life to Maṇḍana Miśra, since his PhD up to the publication of the critical edition (with commentary and subcommentaries) of the Vidhiviveka in 2023. Still, we continued to meet every week to read it and he was constantly improving on some manuscript reading or rethinking a difficult passage.

 He has been a constant inspiration for me and I will miss him, his generosity, his incredibly encyclopaedic knowledge of Sanskrit philosophy, and even his auto-irony. I have also been using him as a paradigmatic case for my students whenever they wondered whether a university position was the only way to continue working in the field: "Who made the greatest contribution (by far) to the study of Maṇḍana? Not a professor, but Elliot Stern, who was working on him out of love and dedication and only on his free time".

Best wishes,

elisa (freschi)
--
**please consider the environment before using an LLM to generate a
response to this e-mail**

Dr. Elisa Freschi

Associate Prof. of South Asian Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
University of Toronto
Jackman Humanities Building,
170 St George Street
ON M5R 2M8 Toronto (Canada)
+1 647 451 2448

http://elisafreschi.com<http://elisafreschi.com/>
Bluesky: @elisafreschi.bsky.social
Philpapers: https://philpeople.org/profiles/elisa-freschi

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