Martin Brauen (born 15 March 1948, in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

) is a cultural anthropologist from

, Switzerland who specialises in

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, ...

, the Himalayas and history of religions.

Biography

Martin Brauen studied

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

and religious history at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

and

Buddhology Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarianism, Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the natur ...

at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. He earned a doctorate after defending a thesis in Zurich on ''Holidays and ceremonies in Ladakh'' and a degree of ''Privatdozent'' (Habilitation in the field of anthropology of religions). Since 1975 he has had several positions at the EthnographicMuseum of the University of Zurich (Head of the "Himalaya, Tibet and the Far East" department, deputy director and director ad interim), as well as becoming a lecturer.Martin Brauen
Wisdom Publications From 2008 to 2012 he was chief curator at the

Rubin Museum of Art The Rubin Museum of Art, also known as the Rubin Museum is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and other regions within Eurasia, with a per ...

in New York City.Brigitta Niederhauser: ''Ein Berner Ethnologe in New York''. In: ''

Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und K ...

'', 12 March 2012
Online
/ref> Since then he is working as an independent curator: Kosmos – Rätsel der Menschheit (Museum Rietberg); Yak, Yetis, Yogis – Tibet im Comic (Museum Rietberg); Bill Viola: Passions (in the Cathedral of Berne); Cesar Ritz (old railway station Niederwald). Brauen is the author of several books and many exhibitions on Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, and Japan. Among his books, ''Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'' is best known to the general public and has been translated into six languages. Well known is also his book Dreamworld Tibet – Western Illusions (in German: Traumwelt Tibet). Martin Brauen has also produced several films and documentaries on

and the Himalayas, and has worked in the areas of aid and development policy in a Swiss NGO (Brot für alle). He met Tibetans for the first time in 1965 and the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

in 1970 during an interview, and has since been committed to the Tibetan cause. He is married to the Tibetan artist

Sonam Dolma Brauen Sonam Dolma Brauen (born 1953) is a Tibetan-Swiss contemporary painter and sculptor. Life and career Early life Sonam Dolma was born in Kongpo, Tibet (today Kongpo, Gongbo'gyamda County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Region, Chin ...

, with whom he had two children, actress and writer

Yangzom Brauen Yangzom Brauen (born 18 April 1980 in Switzerland) is a Swiss actress, activist and writer. Life and work Brauen, the daughter of Swiss ethnologist Martin Brauen and Tibetan artist Sonam Dolma Brauen, started her acting career with small role ...

and Tashi Brauen, artist. The great-grandfather of Martin Brauen,

Élie Ducommun Élie Ducommun (19 February 1833, Geneva – 7 December 1906, Bern) was a Swiss peace activist. He was a Nobel laureate, awarded the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Charles Albert Gobat. Born in Geneva, he worked as a tutor, langua ...

Roger Durand, Elie Ducommun 1833–1906; Association "Genève: un lieu pour la paix", 11212 Grand-Lancy who received the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 1902, was a notable

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

Publications

* 2014: ''Bill Viola: Passions'' (with Kathleen Bühler), Kunstmuseum Bern/Cathedral of Berne * 2014: ''Kosmos – Weltentwürfe im Vergleich'' (with Albert Lutz ''et al.''), Museum Rietberg Zürich/Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess AG, Zürich, *2011: ''Quentin Roosevelt's China – Ancestral Realms of the Naxi'' (with Christine Mathieu and Cindy Ho), Rubin Museum of Art, New York / Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart * 2010: ''Grain of Emptiness – Buddhism-inspired contemporary art'' (with

Mary Jane Jacob Mary Jane Jacob is an American curator, writer, and educator from Chicago, Illinois. She is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is the Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies. She has held posts as Chief C ...

) Rubin Museum of Art, New York, * 2009: ''Mandala – Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'' (with Helen Abbott) Arnoldsche /Rubin Museum of Art, Stuttgart/New York, * 2005: ''The Virtual Mandala – The Tibetan Book of the Dead''/ Das tibetische Totenbuch (with Claudio Dal Pra), Art Adventures, Zürich, (part 1), (part 2) * 2005: ''Die Dalai Lamas – Tibets Reinkarnationen des Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara'', Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart, * 2005: ''The Dalai Lamas – A Visual History'', Serindia, Publications, Chicago, * 2005: ''Les Dalaï-Lamas – Les 14 réincarnations du bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara'', Favre, Lausanne, * 2004: ''Mandala – Cercle sacré du bouddhisme tibétain'', Favre, Lausanne, * 2004: ''Dreamworld Tibet – Western Illusions'', Weatherhill, Trumbull, * 2003: ''Bambus im alten Japan'' / Bamboo in Old Japan, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart, (with Patrizia Jirka-Schmitz) * 2002: ''Peter Aufschnaiter's Eight Years in Tibet'', Orchid Press, Bangkok, * 2000: ''Traumwelt Tibet – Westliche Trugbilder'', Haupt, Bern-Stuttgart-Wien, * 2000: ''Deities of Tibetan Buddhism – The Zürich Paintings of the Icons Worthwhile to See'' (with Martin Willson), Wisdom Publications, Boston, * 1999: ''Mandala – Il cercio sacro del buddhismo tibetano'', Sovera editore, * 1998: ''Mandala – Posvatny kruh tibetského buddhismu'', Volvox Globator, Praha, * 1998: ''De Mandala – De heilige cirkel van het Tibetaans boeddhisme'', Asoka, * 1997: ''The Mandala – Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'', Shambhala, Boston, * 1994: ''Irgendwo in Bhutan – Wo Frauen (fast immer) das Sagen haben'', Verlag im Waldgut, Frauenfeld, * 1992: ''Das Mandala: Der Heilige Kreis im tantrischen Buddhismus'', DuMont, Köln, * 1993: ''Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya'' (with

Charles Ramble Charles Albert Edward Ramble (born 1957) is an anthropologist and former University Lecturer in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at the Oriental Institute, Oxford University. Since 2009 he has been Professor and Directeur d'études (Histoire et ph ...

), Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 12, Ethnological Museum of the University of Zurich, * 1984: Nepal – Leben und Überleben, Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 2, Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich * 1983: Peter Aufschnaiter – Sein Leben in Tibet, Steiger Verlag, Innsbruck, * 1982: Junge Tibeter in der Schweiz – Studien zum Prozess kultureller Identifikation (with Detlef Kantowsky), Verlag Rüegger, Diessenhofen, * 1982: Fremden-Bilder, Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 1, Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich * 1980: Feste in Ladakh,

Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt :''There also were unrelated publishing houses in Stuttgart and in (East-)Berlin, and there is the (JAVG).'' The Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) is an Austrian book publisher in Graz that specialises primarily in publishing lavis ...

, Graz, * 1978: Tibetan Studies, presented at the

International Seminar of Young Tibetologists International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (ISYT) was founded to create a venue for collaboration and exchange for postgraduate students and early career researchers who study all aspects of focusing on Tibetan Studies including; culture, hist ...

(with

Per Kværne Per Kværne (born 1 April 1945) is a Norwegian tibetologist and historian of religion. Biography Per Kværne was born in Oslo, Norway. In 1970 he received the mag.art. degree in Sanskrit at the University of Oslo. From 1970 to 1975 he worked as a l ...

), Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich * 1974: ''Heinrich Harrer's Impressionen aus Tibet'', Pinguin Verlag, Innsbruck * 1969: Tibetische Kunst, Tibeta 69, Bern

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brauen, Martin 1948 births Swiss anthropologists Living people