Toni Hagen (17 August 1917 in
Luzern – 18 April 2003 in
Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein.
The ...
) was a
Swiss geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...
and a pioneer of Swiss
development assistance
Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...
.
Education
After taking a diploma in engineering and geology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, he took a doctorate in the geology of the Welsh mountains and then became a research assistant at the Zurich Geological Institute.
Hagen first visited
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
in 1950 with a first Swiss development assistance mission. In 1952 he was employed by the government of Nepal and also worked for the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. He explored the geography of that
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
n state.
Career
Dr. Hagen was the first foreigner to trek throughout Nepal during geological and geographic survey work and mapping on behalf of the United Nations. He walked over 14,000 km walking several times across Nepal, where the topography is mostly hilly to snow-covered. He filmed Nepalese cultural and ethnic diversity originally as produced as a silent documentary, and later with an English narration in his own voice. Dr. Hagen is also the author of several books including a book entitled ''Nepal'' (; LCCN 99937099)
From 1966 to 1971, as adviser to the UN's Development Program, he was given a special mission in crisis-hit areas worldwide including Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Hagen was a pioneer in the field of development aid, undertaking missions to the Himalayas, eastern Africa and South America in a career spanning over 60 years.
After
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, Taman ...
was taken over by
China in 1959, Hagen used his influence to help the Tibetan refugees. During the next years he gained
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 ...
's confidence. He managed to bring approximately 1,000–1,500 Tibetans to Switzerland.
Hagen retired from the UN in 1972, worked as a freelance adviser for organisations involved in foreign aid and later returned to the Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich where he lectured on the problems of the developing world. In the early 1980s he established the Toni Hagen Foundation in Switzerland and Nepal to promote democratic reforms and better understanding between different ethnic groups in Nepal.
Film Production
In 1999 Dr. Toni Hagen filmed a story of his life, ''The Ring of the Buddha'' (German title: ''Der Ring des Buddha''), which also included some original materials from the 1960s. Soon after the film was shown, he died in early 2003 at the age of 85 in his home in Lucerne on Good Friday, three days after his wife,
Gertrud in Lenzerheide.
External links
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Toni
20th-century Swiss geologists
Swiss explorers
Swiss geographers
History of Tibet
History of Nepal
1917 births
2003 deaths
Buddhism in Switzerland
20th-century geographers