[INDOLOGY] [External] Re: George Thompson (1951-2025)

[Smith, Frederick M]

Thanks you for this. I knew George well, and was alerted to his passing by Tim Cahill in August of last year. I intended to write an obit on him, but that escaped me. George was a dedicated and learned Indo-Iranian philologist. He studied at Berkeley under Martin Schwartz and the Indianists there in the 1980s. George published a number of high level essays on the ṚV in the JAOS, IIJ, and elsewhere. He taught at an art college in New Hampshire until his wife Susan was diagnosed with terminal cancer about ten years ago. He then was forced to leave his position to look after her. George suffered a stroke several years ago and moved to an assisted living home in upstate New York, to be near one of his two sons and his family. In spite of his incapacity, George read passages from the ṚV, Avesta, and associated scholarship, and thought about them nearly every day. George was clear thinking, articulate, and the embodiment of sincerity, virtue, and morality that inspired all who knew him.

Warm regards,
Fred Smith

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From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Nicole Karapanagiotis via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Date: Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 6:10 PM
To: Antonia Ruppel <rhododaktylos at gmail.com>
Cc: indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: [External] Re: [INDOLOGY] George Thompson (1951-2025)

Antonia, Heiner, and all,
I also appreciate the chance to learn more about the deceased and read tributes about them.
Thank you,
Nicole Karapanagiotis

Dr. Nicole Karapanagiotis, Ph.D. (she/her)
Associate Professor, Dept. of Philosophy & Religion
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Camden College of Arts and Sciences
429 Cooper St., Room #303
Camden, NJ 08102
nicole.karapanagiotis at rutgers.edu<mailto:nicole.karapanagiotis at rutgers.edu>



On Sun, Jul 5, 2026 at 6:04 PM Antonia Ruppel via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
Dear Heiner,

I respectfully disagree. I always appreciate the chance to hear from anyone who knew the deceased better. They were a member of our community, and while sharing our memories of them will perhaps not make their śravaḥ akṣitam, it still seems the right thing to do. I met George at the World Sanskrit Conference in Kyoto, and still remember how friendly he was to me, even though back then I still was very new to the field.

If you feel there are too many emails on this list, perhaps consider signing up for the daily digest rather than the individual emails?

All my best,
    Antonia

On Sun, 5 Jul 2026 at 23:54, Rolf Heinrich Koch via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:

Dear listmembers,

Just a small suggestion: to help reduce unnecessary email traffic (and save a little energy), it might be nice if condolences in response to obituary notices were sent directly to the original sender rather than to the entire mailing list.

Thank you for considering this.

Heiner

Am 05.07.2026 um 19:30 schrieb Whitaker, Jarrod via INDOLOGY:
Dear Colleagues

A colleague just let me know that George Thompson passed away last year. I'm not sure if this was broadcast last year, so my apologies if so. George was a long-time member of the AOS and a Vedic and Classical Sanskrit scholar.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/ledgertranscript/name/george-thompson-obituary?id=59310306

JW


--
Dr. R. H. Koch - Germany/Sri Lanka
www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com/<http://www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com/>
www.ummaggajataka.wordpress.com<http://www.ummaggajataka.wordpress.com/>

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