Dear Friends, Truly a sad and bitter loss to our scholarly community as well as, of course, to Diego's family and friends. He was a truly gifted scholar who would certainly have gone on to great things. Condolences to everyone who is affected by this tragedy.
Rich Salomon On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 11:32 AM Stefan Baums via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > 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 Diego focused on the philological treatment of unpublished 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://urldefense.com/v3/__https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!k8n8rnUp5IS1l6nUkjOHuuQC3_FZ59g54l3CrMsXyAzPAjI7aYg7KAB5PChy9Yitamhj6R7xp2kUSR8MBml-az1WGQ$ >
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