Our dear friend and colleague Diego Loukota has passed away. Even in his last days, the fields of study to which he gave so much were in his thoughts, and he asked for the following obituary to be shared with you.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Diego Loukota, Assistant Professor in Indian and Central Asian Buddhism at UCLA, died at the age of 38 on Sunday, March 17th, 2024 in his home in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by family and friends. He had been diagnosed with an incurable and aggressive form of brain tumor (glioblastoma) in March 2023. Diego was a proud husband to his colleague Stephanie Balkwill, Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhism at UCLA, and father to 8-year-old Remedios, as well as a proud citizen of Guatemala, Colombia, and Canada. He continued his activity as instructor, graduate supervisor, and researcher throughout the course of his illness up until the end of 2023, when his physical limitations made work difficult and secondary to end-of-life considerations. Diego had unfinished studies in Classics and Music (cello) from the National University of Colombia, a BA in Asian History from the University of Bologna in Italy, and an MA in Sanskrit and Pāli from Peking University, where he also studied Khotanese and Gāndhārī under the late Prof. Duan Qing; after this he completed his doctoral studies under Prof. Gregory Schopen in Buddhist Studies at UCLA. Diego focused on the philological treatment of unpublished documents, fragments, and inscriptions in Central Asian languages, with an eye to their contribution to the history of Buddhism and of the Silk Road. If you would like to contribute a personal reminiscence or anecdote to be shared at an upcoming memorial event at UCLA, please write it in this thread or write to his wife Stephanie at [email protected]. ------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Stefan Baums, Ph.D. Institut für Indologie und Tibetologie Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München _______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list [email protected] https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
