Dear friends and colleagues,
I add my voice to this choir of acknowledgements and manifestations of esteem,
sadness and bafflement to say that my feelings and memories as a scholar and a
human being mirror most of those so well expressed by others.
As a more exclusive contribution, I would like to report the following: it
seems that my Indology message about the 'saving' of Michel Angot's library and
appeal (on behalf of Prof. Wulff) for other Indological libraries to rescue
reached Johannes Bronkhorst just in time. In a matter of days everything was
arranged and, thanks to Prof. Wulff's proactive attitude and availability,
another amazing Indological library has now been saved (around 3'200 volumes)!
I am so grateful that this allowed me to have one last personal exchange with
Prof. Bronkhorst, and it is my heartfelt hope that the careful recovery of his
library will have given him some solace as well as some sense of completion and
intellectual continuity. Alternatively, as he told us, the whole library would
have been pulped...
As others have said, I would also very much like to see Prof. Bronkhorst's last
interview, provided this is possible and does not contradict any of his
instructions.
Wishing peace and accomplishments to all those who have gone before us!
Cordially,
Elizabeth De Michelis
On Thursday, 15 May 2025 at 18:51:41 CEST, Michaels, Prof. Dr. Axel via
INDOLOGY <[email protected]> wrote:
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Dear friends and colleagues,
I cannot recall there ever having seen so many expressions of sympathy on this
List so quickly following the passing of a dear colleague. This shows how much
Johannes was appreciated and liked. Perhaps this reaction was due to the
shocking circumstances of his death, which decency forbids to comment on, but
even more so to the fact that he was a truly unusual, lovable, open-minded,
humorous and inspiring person who had an admirable woman by his side. For me
Johannes, whom I met regularly during my years in Switzerland and afterwards,
was an astute and widely interested person whose interests extended far beyond
his main discipline. It is too early for an obituary, and others are better
qualified to write one, but perhaps it is important to emphasise that his work
on asceticism, ritual, Magadha, grammar, philosophy and theory of religion(s)
almost always stimulated high-level debates. Such a versatile and
interdisciplinary Indologist has become rare.
Sadly, Johannes demonstrated his courage to break new ground right up to the
end.
Best wishes for him and Joy!
Axel / Michaels
From:INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of
"[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Reply to: Timothy Lubin <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, 15. May 2025 at 18:27
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone
Dear colleagues,
Like many others who have sent notes, I valued Johannes as a scholar of great
breadth and depth, but also as a warmly supportive senior colleague, from our
earliest interactions at conferences when I was new to the field. We had many
exchanges over the last two decades especially on the formation of Brahmanical
tradition. His writings and talks always struck me as a model of lucidly
presented and careful argumentation. He was adept at working outward from
detailed, textually grounded analysis to address larger implications and
stimulating big-picture hypotheses, both in South Asian cultural history and in
the study of religions. His final annual message with links to his 2025
publications — which I was perplexed to receive so early in the year — again
exhibits the range of his interests and writing.
For this reason, I was delighted when, almost exactly a decade ago, he agreed
to extend his visit to the US after the AOS conference in New Orleans to accept
my invitation to deliver the 2015 Root Lecture at WLU on the topic “Can
Religion be Explained?” Adding the extra leg to his travels was no trivial
complication for him since his osteoarthritis already was making air travel
painful. My wife and I enjoyed the opportunity to welcome him to our
university, and to drive him along the Blue Ridge Parkway to take in the views
of the Shenandoah Valley. He was a kind, engaging man and an exemplary
humanist, and I am sorry that he and Joy have left us.
Best,
Tim Lubin
WLU
From:INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of INDOLOGY
<[email protected]>
Reply-To: Harry Falk <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
To: INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone
Dear friends and colleagues,
I have just received the news that Johannes Bronkhorst left this world
today at noon in a controlled manner, as was his custom, together with his
beloved wife Joy Manné.
He sent the last batch of his papers just a few days ago. He will be
remembered as an innovative and inspired scientist, a cheerful person and
a true and dear friend.
Sadly.
Harry Falk
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