Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (21 November 1903 – 5 May 1983) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and Professor of

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at the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but was better known as an

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

and the greatest authority on

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

in the West in his time. He studied under his pioneering compatriot

Louis de La Vallée-Poussin Louis Étienne Joseph Marie de La Vallée-Poussin (1 January 1869 – 18 February 1938) was a Belgian Indologist and scholar of Buddhist Studies. Biography La Vallée-Poussin was born in Liège, where he received his early education. He studie ...

and was one of the few scholars familiar with all the main Buddhist languages:

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. His first published work was his PhD thesis: ''Notes sur le Bhagavad-Gita'' (Paris, Geuthner, 1929). - In 1953, he was awarded the

Francqui Prize The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize named after Émile Francqui. Normally annually since 1933, the Francqui Foundation awards it in recognition of the achievements of a scholar or scientist, who at the start ...

Human Science Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...

The Translation of Da zhi du lun

He is also known for his French translation of the

Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa The ''Dà zhìdù lùn'' (abbreviated DZDL), ( Chinese: 大智度論, Wade-Giles: ''Ta-chih-tu lun''; Japanese: ''Daichido-ron'' (as in Taishō Tripiṭaka no. 1509); ''The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā'') is a massive Mahāyāna Buddh ...

(, English: Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom), a text attributed to

Nāgārjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

. Lamotte thought that the text was most likely composed by an Indian

bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

from the

Sarvastivada The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...

tradition, who later became a

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Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

. Lamotte's translation was published in five volumes but unfortunately remains incomplete, since his death put an end to his efforts.

Other works

In addition to the

, Lamotte also composed several other important translations from

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

s, including the Suramgamasamadhi sutra, and the

Vimalakirti Vimalakīrti ( sa, विमल ' "stainless, undefiled" + ' "fame, glory, reputation") is the central figure in the ', which presents him as the ideal Mahayana Buddhist upāsaka ("lay practitioner") and a contemporary of Gautama Buddha (6th to ...

Publications

Paul Williams, author of a book review of one of Lamotte's books for the ''

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society The ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' is an academic journal which publishes articles on the history, archaeology, literature, language, religion and art of South Asia, the Middle East (together with North Africa and Ethiopia), Central Asia ...

'', wrote that his "works are always more than just translations or interpretations. They are vast encyclopedias of references and primary source materials from half a dozen languages which he seems to handle with complete familiarity."Williams, p. 171. *''Le traité de la grande vertu de sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra)'' vol. 1 (1944) *''Le traité de la grande vertu de sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra)'' vol. 2 (1949) *''Histoire du bouddhisme indien'' (1958) trans. into English as ''The History of Indian Buddhism'' 1988. *''The Spirit of Ancient Buddhism'' (1961) *'' The Teaching of Vimalakirti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa)'' (1962) (

Pali Text Soc. The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...

trans. 1986) *'' Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, The Concentration of Heroic Progress: An Early Mahayana Buddhist Scripture'' (1965) (Eng. trans: Curzon Press 1998) *''Le traité de la grande vertu de sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra)'' vol. 3 (1970) *''Le traité de la grande vertu de sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra)'' vol. 4 (1976) *''Le traité de la grande vertu de sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra)'' vol. 5 (1980) *''Karmasiddhi Prakarana'', English trans. Leo M. Pruden 1988.

References

* André Bareau: ''Etienne Lamotte 1903-1983'', ''

T'oung Pao ''T’oung Pao'' (; ), founded in 1890, is a Dutch journal and the oldest international journal of sinology. It is published by the publisher E. J. Brill. ''T'oung Paos original full title was ''T’oung Pao ou Archives pour servir à l’étud ...

'', Second Series, Vol. 69, No. 1/3 (1983), pp. i-ii. *

Heinz Bechert Heinz Bechert (26 June 1932, Munich – 14 June 2005, Göttingen) was a German Indologist and Buddhologist. Life The son of lawyer Rudolf Bechert and his wife, Herta ( Bade), from 1965 to 2000, Heinz Bechert held the Chair of Indology at the ...

, In Memoriam Etienne Lamotte (1903-1983), ''

Numen Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for "divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen ever ...

'', Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jul., 1985), pp. 119-129. * Heinz Bechert
Etienne Lamotte (1903-1983)
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 8 (2), 151-156, 1985. * Durt Hubert
Etienne Lamotte (1903-1983)
'' Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient'', Tome 74, 1985. pp. 6-28. * Williams, Paul M. " The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa)" (book review) ''

'', , 04/1979, Volume 111, Issue 2, pp. 171 – 172.

Notes

External links