Hugh Edward Richardson: Difference between revisions

| name = Hugh Richardson CIE, OBE, ICS, FBA (Hon.)

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1905|12|22}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2000|12|03|1905|12|22}}

| occupation = [[Diplomat]], [[Tibetologisttibetologist]]

Born in [[St Andrews|St. Andrews]], [[Fife]], the son of a [[British Army]] [[Physician|medical officer]], Richardson studied classics at [[Keble College, Oxford]].<ref>[httphttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1377575/Hugh-Richardson.html Daily Telegraph: Obituary (9 December 2000)]</ref> He entered the Indian Civil Service on 9 October 1930.<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33659/page/7064 The London Gazette, 7 November 1930]</ref> Transferring to the Foreign and Political Service of the Government of India, Richardson was posted to [[Baluchistan]] as an Assistant Political Agent. In July 1936, he was appointed as the British Trade Agent at Gyantse. He represented Britain in [[Lhasa]], capital of [[Tibet]], from 1936 to 1940 and again from 1946 to 1950, in the final years having become the diplomatic representative of the recently independent [[India]].

''"My counterparts were...experienced negotiators. . .and masters of procrastination and evasion, and might assume the cloak of simple people with no experience of the outside world. . .There could be no doubt I was dealing with ministers of a government that was completely independent in both its internal and external affairs."''

Like many ICS officers, Richardson was an accomplished linguist who spoke [[Bengali language|Bengali]] fluently, a skill he put to use when conversing with [[Rabindranath Tagore]], and his fluent [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] was described by the Tibetan politician [[Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa]] as "impeccable Lhasa Tibetan with a slight Oxford accent." <ref>[http://www.tibet.ca//en/newsroom/wtn/archive/old?y=2001&m=1&p=8_3 Our Last Man In Lhasa, He Brought Unrivalled Knowledge Of Tibet To Warnings Of Chinese Ambitions]</ref> As Secretary to the Agent-General for India at [[Chungking]], he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1944 New Year Honours list, and was further appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) on 14 August 1947, in the last imperial honours list.<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36309/supplement/21 The London Gazette, 1 January 1944]</ref><ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38161/supplement/29 The London Gazette, 1 January 1948]</ref> After Indian independence, Richardson remained in the renamed [[Indian Administrative Service]], serving in Lhasa until his retirement in September 1950. After his retirement from public service he taught in Seattle and Bonn. He subsequently returned to St. Andrews and spent the remainder of his life as an [[independent scholar]].

He was an advocate of the right of [[Tibetans]] to a separate political existence, a case he made in two books, ''Tibet and Its History'' (1962) and ''A Cultural History of Tibet'' (1968), and at the [[United Nations]] when the issue of Chinese oppression of [[Tibet]] was raised by the [[Irish Republic]], represented by [[Frank Aiken]], during the 1959 UN General Assembly debate on Tibet. There, in the words of one commentator, "he acted valiantly as a man of honour in a cause which has been largely lost because of the notions of political expediency, where sides are taken without regard to principle and in order not to risk aligning oneself with a potential loser, however deserving he may be" -– a position which reportedly earned him the displeasure of both the British and Indian delegations to the UN Assembly.<ref>[http://www.tibet.ca//en/newsroom/wtn/archive/old?y=2000&m=12&p=9_3 Obituary --– Dr Hugh Richardson]</ref> He remained a close personal friend of the 14th Dalai Lama and of the Tibetan government-in-exile until his death, with the latter describing Richardson as "very precious to us/."

self-determination, but also at the government's treatment of the [[Tenzin Gyatso|14th Dalai Lama]].<ref>[http://www.tibet.com/Status/richugh.html My Direct Experience of Independence Tibet 1936-491936–49] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322034531/http://www.tibet.com/Status/richugh.html |date=22 March 2008 }}</ref>

"His hobbies were [[ornithology]], [[botany]] and [[gardening]] and he was also an enthusiastic [[photographer]]. Another of Richardson's passions was [[golf]], which he introduced to Tibet, although he noted that the ball tended to travel 'rather too far in the thin air'."<ref>{{Cite web

| title = Biography of Hugh Richardson (1905-20001905–2000)

*1949 “Three ancient inscriptions from Tibet” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal'' 15, (1949): 45-6445–64.

*1952. ''Ancient historical edicts at Lhasa and the Mu Tsung / Khri Gtsung Lde Brtsan treaty of A.D. 821-822821–822 from the inscription at Lhasa.'' London: Royal Asiatic Society Prize Publication Fund 19, 1952.

*1952-31952–3 “Tibetan inscriptions at Zva-hi Lha Khang” London: ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', (1952): 133-54133–54 (1953): 1-121–12.

*1954 “A ninth-century inscription from Rkong-po.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' London, (1954): 157-73157–73.

*1957 “A Tibetan Inscription from Rgyal Lha-khang” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London, (1957): 57-7857–78.

*1964 “A new inscription of Khri Srong Lde Brtans.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1964): 1-131–13.

*1965a "How old was Srong-brtsan Sgam-po ?", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 1, 6-86–8. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 3-63–6.

*1965b "A fragment from Tun-huang", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 3, 33-3833–38. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 7-117–11.

*1968 with [[David Snellgrove]]. ''A Cultural History of Tibet''. 1995 2nd Edition with changes. Shambhala. Boston & London. {{ISBN |1-57062-102-0}}.

*1969 “The"The inscription at the Tomb of Khri Lde Srong Btsan”Btsan", ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1969): 29-3829–38

*1969b “Tibetan"Tibetan chis and tschis.”" ''Asia Major'' 14 (1969): 154-6154–6.

*1972 “The"The rKong-po Inscription.”" ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1972): 30-3930–39.

*1973 “The"The Skar-cung inscription.”" ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society''. (1973): 12-2012–20.

*1978 “The Sino-Tibetan treaty inscription of A.D. 821/823 at Lhasa.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'': (1978): 137-62137–62.

*1983 “Bal-po and Lho-bal” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 46 (1983): 136-8136–8.

*1985. ''A corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions.'' (James G. Forlong Series no. 29). Hertford: Royal Asiatic Society, 1985. {{ISBN|0-947593-00-4}}.
*1987 “Early"Early Tibetan Inscriptions: Some Recent Discoveries” ''The Tibet Journal'' 12.2.Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan works and archives, (1987): 3-153–15. (reprinted with 2 short notes added) ''Bulletin of Tibetology'' n.s. 3. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, (1987): 5-185–18. ''High Peaks, Pure Earth.'' London: Serindia, 1998: 261-275261–275.

*1988 “More Early Inscriptions from Tibet” ''Bulletin of Tibetology''. New Series 2. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology. (1988): 5-85–8. High Peaks, Pure Earth. London: Serindia, 1998: 276-278276–278.

*1989 "EaryEarly Tibetan law concerning dog-bite", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', new ser. 3, 5-105–10. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 135-139135–139.

*1990 "Hunting accidents in early Tibet", ''Tibet Journal'', 15-4, 5-275–27. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 149-166149–166.

*1995a “The Tibetan Inscription attributed to Ye shes ‘od” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' 3rd Series 5.3. (1995): 403-404403–404.

*1995b “The inscription at Ra-tshag Dgon-pa” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 58 (1995): 534-9534–9; ''High Peaks, Pure Earth''. London: Serindia, 1998: 286-291286–291.

*1997 ''Adventures of Tibetan Fighting Monk'' with Khedrup Tashi, White Orchid Books; {{ISBN |974-87368-7-3}}, Orchid Press, 2006, {{ISBN |974-8299-17-1}}

*[[Patrick French|French, Patrick]]. ''Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land'' (2003) Knopf. {{ISBN |1-4000-4100-7}}

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[[Category:BritishScottish orientalists]]

[[Category:20th-century British historians]]