André Migot (1892–1967) was a French doctor, traveler and writer. He served as an army medical officer in World War I, winning the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. After the war he engaged in research in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

, and then practised as a doctor in France; in his spare time, he climbed in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

. In 1938 he set off to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by bicycle to pursue his interest in Oriental religions. During World War II he worked as a doctor in occupied Paris. After the war he went to Indochina, whence in 1947 he made a journey alone through Eastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and China in order to research aspects of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. During this journey he tried but failed to reach

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

disguised as a mendicant lama. As he could speak and write Tibetan, he was able to converse with the lamas, and was initiated into the

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mon ...

lineage at Shangu Gompa, a

lamasery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes ...

outside modern-day Yushu. This journey is described in his best-known book ''Caravane vers Bouddha'', translated into English by Peter Fleming as ''Tibetan Marches''. From Beijing, where that book ends in 1948, he made an equally adventurous journey back through Tibet to Indochina. Later he spent two years in the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

as a doctor to a French expedition. In 1954 he joined an Australian expedition in the same region. He wrote many other books on his travels, and on Oriental religion and philosophy.

References

*Migot, André (translated by Peter Fleming) (1955).
Tibetan Marches
', Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1892 births 1967 deaths French explorers French travel writers Tibet French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers {{France-academic-bio-stub