Isaline Blew Horner

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(30 March 1896 – 25 April 1981), usually cited as I. B. Horner, was an English

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 ...

, a leading scholar of

Pali literature Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language. The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pāli Canon, the authoritative scriptures of Theravada school. Pali literat ...

and late president of the

Pali Text Society 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 ...

(1959–1981).

Life

On 30 March 1896 Horner was born in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Horner was a first cousin once removed of the British

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

monk Ajahn Amaro.

Cambridge years

In 1917, at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

's women's college Newnham College, Horner was awarded the title of a B.A. in moral sciences.Jayetilleke (2007). After her undergraduate studies, Horner remained at Newnham College, becoming in 1918 an assistant librarian and then, in 1920, acting librarian. In 1921, Horner traveled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and Burma where she was first introduced to

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 ...

, its literature and related languages. In 1923, Horner returned to England, where she accepted a Fellowship at Newnham College and became its librarian. In 1928, she became the first Sarah Smithson Research Fellow in

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 ...

Studies. In 1930, she published her first book, ''Women Under Primitive Buddhism''. In 1933, she edited her first volume of Pali text, the third volume of the ''Papancasudani'' ( Majjhima Nikaya

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

). In 1934, Horner was awarded the title of an M.A. from Cambridge. From 1939 to 1949, she served on Cambridge's Governing Body. From 1926 to 1959, Horner lived and traveled with her companion "Elsie," Eliza Marian Butler (18851959).University of Cambridge (2007).Burford (2005).Watts (2006).

PTS years

In 1936, due to Butler's accepting a position at Manchester University, Horner left Newnham to live in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. There, Horner completed the fourth volume of the ''Papancasudani'' (published 1937). In 1938, she published the first volume of a translation of the

Vinaya Pitaka The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon (''Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinay ...

. (She was to publish a translation of the last Vinaya Pitaka volume in 1966.) In 1942, Horner became the Honorary Secretary of the Pali Text Society (PTS). In 1943, in response to her parents' needs and greater PTS involvement, Horner moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where she lived until her death. In 1959, she became the Society's President and Honorary Treasurer.

Honors

In 1964, in recognition of her contributions to Pali literature, Horner was awarded an honorary

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

by Ceylon University. In 1977, Horner received a second honorary Ph.D from Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. In 1980,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

made Horner an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) for her lifelong contribution to

Buddhist literature Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

Books

Horner's books (ordered by first identified publication date) include: * ''Women under primitive Buddhism : laywomen and almswomen'' (1930/1975) * ''Papañcasūdanī: Majjhimanikāyaṭṭhakathā of Buddhaghosâcariya'' (1933) * ''Early Buddhist theory of man perfected : a study of the Arahan concept and of the implications of the aim to perfection in religious life, traced in early canonical and post-canonical Pali literature'' (1936/1975) * ''Book of the discipline (Vinaya-pitaka)'' (1938), translated by I. B. Horner * '' Alice M. Cooke, a memoir'' (1940) *
Early Buddhism And The Taking Of Life
' (1945/1967) * ''Madhuratthavilāsinī nāma Buddhavaṃsaṭṭhakathā of Bhadantâcariya Buddhadatta Mahāthera'' (1946/1978), ed. by I.B. Horner. * ''Living thoughts of Gotama the Buddha'' (1948/2001), by

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Ananda Kentish Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி, ''Ānanda Kentiś Muthū Kumāraswāmī''; si, ආනන්ද කුමාරස්වාමි ''Ānanda Kumārasvāmī''; 22 August 1877 − 9 Septem ...

and I.B. Horner * ''Collection of the Middle Length Sayings'' (1954) * ''Ten

Jātaka The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

stories'' (1957) *
Women In Early Buddhist Literature
' (1961) * ''Early Buddhist poetry'' (1963) * '' Milinda's questions'' (1963), translated by I. B. Horner * ''Buddhist texts through the ages'' (1964/1990), translated and edited by

Edward Conze Edward Conze, born Eberhard Julius Dietrich Conze (1904–1979) was a scholar of Marxism and Buddhism, known primarily for his commentaries and translations of the Prajñāpāramitā literature. Biography Conze's parents, Dr. Ernst Conze (1872 ...

in collaboration with I.B. Horner, David Snellgrove, Arthur Waley * ''Minor anthologies of the Pali Canon (vol. 4): Vimanavatthu and Petavatthu'' (1974), translated by I. B. Horner *
Noble Quest: Ariyapariyesana Sutta
' (1974) * ''Minor anthologies of the Pali Canon (vol. 3): Buddhavamsa and Cariyapitaka'' (1975), translated by I. B. Horner * ''Apocryphal birth-stories (

Paññāsa Jātaka The ''Paññāsa Jātaka'' ( my, ပညာသဇာတက; th, ปัญญาสชาดก), is a non-canonical collection of 50 stories of the Buddha's past lives, originating in mainland Southeast Asia. The stories were based on the style of ...

)'' (1985), translated by I.B. Horner and Padmanabh S. Jaini *
The Blessed One's City Of Dhamma: From the Milindapañha
' (1993), translated by I.B. Horner and N.K.G. Mendis (Buddhist Publication Society, Bodhi Leaves No. 130)

References

Sources

* Boucher, Sandy (2007).
Appreciating the Lineage of Buddhist Feminist Scholars
, in Rosemary Radford Ruether (ed.) ''Feminist Theologies'' (2007). Minneapolis: Fortress Press. . Retrieved 2008-08-21 from * Burford, Grace (2005).
Newnham Biographies: Isaline B. Horner (1896-1981)
" Retrieved 2008-08-21 from "Newnham College" at * * Jayetilleke, Rohan L. (2007).
The pioneer Pali scholar of the West
" Retrieved 2008-08-20 from "Associated Newspapers of Ceylon". * Norman, K.R. (1982)
Isaline Blew Horner (1896-1981) (Obituary)
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5 (2), 145-149 * University of Cambridge (2007).

" Retrieved 2008-08-20. * Watts, Sheila (2006).
Newnham Biographies: Eliza Marian (Elsie) Butler (1885 – 1959)
. Retrieved 2008-08-21 {{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Isaline Blew 1896 births 1981 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge English Indologists Linguists of Pali Pali–English translators 20th-century translators