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.