About
Alexandra David-Néel, born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David in Saint-Mandé in 1868, was a French explorer, writer, and Tibetologist. She was the first European woman to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa in 1924, disguised as a beggar. She studied Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Buddhist philosophy, and lived as a hermit in a cave in Sikkim. Her work, comprising over thirty books, influenced the Beat Generation, and the 14th Dalai Lama hailed her as the first to introduce the real Tibet to the West. She settled in Digne-les-Bains in 1928, where her home, Samten Dzong, is now a museum.
* 1868-10-24 — † 1969-09-08
Major works
- Voyage d'une Parisienne à Lhassa (1927)travelogue
- La Vie surhumaine de Guésar de Ling (1931)epic tale
- Le Bouddhisme du Bouddha (1936)essay
- L'Inde où j'ai vécu (1951)memoir
- Le Vieux Tibet face à la Chine nouvelle (1953)essay
Key milestones
- 1912Met the 13th Dalai Lama twice in Sikkim, unprecedented for a European woman.
- 1924First European woman to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa, disguised as a beggar.
- 1996Her home in Digne-les-Bains, Samten Dzong, is classified as a Monument Historique.
Themes
ExplorationBuddhismTibetSpiritualityTravel
Sources: data.bnf.fr · alexandra-david-neel.fr · bbc.com