Alain Daniélou (; 4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, Indologist,

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and Western convert to and expert on the

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

branch of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. In 1991, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Early life and education

His mother, Madeleine Clamorgan, was from an old family of the Norman

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

; a fervent

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, she founded schools and a religious order, the Order of Sainte-Marie, for women teachers in civilian costume under the patronage of St. François-Xavier. His father, Charles Daniélou, was an

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

Breton politician who held numerous national ministerial posts in the Third Republic. One of his brothers was the Roman Catholic

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

member, Jean Daniélou. He received his education at the Institution Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix,

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

, and at St. John's College, Annapolis. The young Daniélou studied

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

under the famous

Charles Panzéra Charles uguste LouisPanzéra (February 16, 1896 in Geneva – June 6, 1976 in Paris) was a Swiss people, Swiss operatic and concert baritone. Overview Panzéra's studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatory under the tuition of ...

, as well as classical dancing with Nicholas Legat (teacher of Vaslav Nijinsky), and composition with Max d'Ollone. Subsequently, he performed professionally on stage with dancers such as Floria Capsali and Marjorie Daw. Growing up, he rebelled against his mother's deep devotion to her faith, but his father remained a positive influence, which helped in developing his musical talent and in coping with his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

. He studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and singing, learning the songs of Duparc and Chausson and the '' liederkreis'' of Schumann and Schubert. He started writing poems, as acquired proficiency in English and other

European languages There are over 250 languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. The three larges ...

Career

India: 1932–1960

He and his partner, the Swiss photographer Raymond Burnier, first went to India as part of an adventure trip, and they were fascinated with the

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

of the nation. Daniélou and Burnier were among the first Westerners to visit India's famed erotic Hindu temples in the village of Khajuraho and Burnier's stunning photographs of the ancient temple complex launched the site internationally. The photographs were featured in an exhibition at the New York's Metropolitan Museum. In 1932, during his first trip to India, he met one of the great influences poet

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. His close association with Tagore lead him to become the director of Tagore's school of music at

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

(

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

). Subsequently, in 1935, he joined the

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

, where he studied

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

Sanskrit language Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...

, and Hindu religion for the next 15 years of his life. In 1949, he was appointed as a research professor at the University, a post he held until 1953; he also remained the director of the College of Indian Music. In Bénarès (now

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

), he lived in a mansion on the banks of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, named ''Rewa Kothi''. During these years, he studied

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

in Bénarès with Shivendranath Basu and played the veena, a classical Indian instrument which he started playing professionally. He also studied

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

languages, as well as

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

. His interest in the symbolism of

Hindu architecture Hindu architecture is the traditional system of Indian architecture for structures such as temples, monasteries, statues, homes, market places, gardens and town planning as described in Hindu texts. The architectural guidelines survive in Sans ...

and sculpture lead him to long trips with Burnier to Khajuraho,

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

, and Konarak, sites located in

central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. He also translated some works of Swami Karpatri, the '' samnyasin'' by whom he was initiated into

Shaivism Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...

under the Hindu name ''Shiva Sharan'' ("Protected by Shiva"). In 1942, he published his translation of the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

, a Tamil moral literature. In 1953, he joined the Adyar Library and Research Centre at the Theosophical Society Adyar near Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

), where he was the director of a centre of research into

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

until 1956. In 1959, he became a member of French Institute of Pondicherry, which works in the field of

Indology 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 ...

Europe: 1960 onwards

Upon his return to Europe in 1960, he was appointed an advisor to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. The original request of the foundation of the IMC was under the Director of the UNESCO. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, ...

, which led to a number of recordings of traditional music such as '' Unesco Collection: A Musical Anthology of the Orient'', '' Musical Atlas'', '' Musical Sources'', and '' Anthology of Indian Classical Music - A Tribute to Alain Daniélou''. In 1963, he became the founder and director of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation (IICMSD) in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, where he remained till 1977; he was also the director of the Istituto Internazionale di Musica Comparata (IISMC) in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

from 1969 to 1979. He worked on

. But his more important contribution to

is his writings on the ancient wisdom of the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

, and

. He is the author of over thirty books on Indian music and culture. He received several awards for his work on music. He was also a photographer and artist.

Awards and recognition

Daniélou was an Officer of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, an Officer of the

Ordre National du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

, and Commander of Arts and Letters. He was the director of the UNESCO Collection series, a series of recordings of traditional

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. In 1981, Daniélou received the UNESCO/CIM prize for music, and, in 1987 the Kathmandu Medal from

Legacy

In 2004, to mark his tenth death anniversary a photo exhibition, "India through the eyes of Alain Danielou (1935-1955)" was hosted at the

Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

, Hyderabad.

Works

*
While the Gods play, Shaiva Oracles and Predictions on the Cycles of History and Destiny of Mankind
' (, 1985) *
Gods of Love and Ecstasy, The Tradition of Shiva & Dionysus, Omnipresent Gods of Transcendence
' *
The Hindu Temple; Deification of Eroticism
' *
Music and the Power of Sound
' *
A Brief History of India
'published by Inner Traditions *
The complete Kâma Sûtra
' The first unabridged translation. *
Virtue, success, pleasure & liberation: the four aims of life in the tradition of ancient India
' * ''Ragas of North Indian Classical Music'' *
The Way to the Labyrinth: An Autobiography
' published by New Directions. *
The Myths and Gods of India, Hindu Polytheism
' *
Yoga: the Method of Reintegration
' *
Yoga, Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe
' *
Fools of God
' * ''Song-poems - Rabindranath Tagore, Texts in English, French and Bengali & Melodies'' * ''The Congress of the World With miniatures of tantric cosmology'' *
Sacred Music, its Origins, Powers and Future, Traditional Music in Today's World
' *
The Situation Of Music And Musicians In The Countries Of The Orient
' *
Introduction to The Study of Musical Scales
' * ''Northern Indian Music: Vol. One, Theory, History and Technique'' * ''Northern Indian Music: Vol. Two, The Main Ragas'' *
The Phallus, Sacred Symbol of Male Creative Power
' *
India, a civilization of differences: the ancient tradition of universal tolerance
' *
Shiva And The Primordial Tradition: From the Tantras to the Science of Dreams
' *
Manimekhalaï, The Dancer With The Magic Bowl
' Translation by Alain Daniélou * ''Shilappadikâram, The Ankle Bracelet'' *
Sacred Music, Its Origins, Powers And Future
' * ''A Descriptive Catalogue Of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Alain Daniélou's Collection at the Giorgio Cini Foundation''

Discography

* '' Unesco Collection: A Musical Anthology of the Orient'' * '' Anthology of Indian Classical Music - A Tribute to Alain Daniélou'' * ''Musiciens et Danseurs de la caste des Ahirs'' (1951) * ''Religious Music of India (1952)'' * '' Musical Atlas'' * '' Musical Sources (Philips, Holland)'' * ''Anthology of North Indian Classical Music - (Bärenreiter-Musicaphon, Kassel)''

Filmography

* 2023: ''Alain Daniélou, l'esprit libre'', a documentary by :fr:Joël Farges, Kolam, 77', ISAN 0000-0006-EA8A-0000-F-0000-0000-T. * 2017: ''Alain Daniélou - The Way to the Labyrinth'', a documentary by Riccardo Biadene, KAMA Productions.

References

External links

*
The Way to the Labyrinth: An Autobiography by Alain Danielou
'
Official web site of Alain Danielou (English)

Article on Daniélou
* Exhibition catalogue of Khajuraho photographs, Metropolitan Museaum of Ar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danielou, Alain 1907 births 1994 deaths 20th-century French historians 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French musicologists 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French translators 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University Breton musicians Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Converts to Hinduism from Christianity Former Roman Catholics French expatriates in India French expatriates in Switzerland French former Christians French gay writers French Hindus French historians of philosophy French historians of religion French Indologists Hindu studies scholars Historians of India Historians of South Asia Indian musicologists LGBTQ Hindus Matriarchy People from Neuilly-sur-Seine Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Sanskrit–English translators Shaivites Tamil–French translators Tirukkural translators Translators of the Tirukkural into French Academic staff of Visva-Bharati University Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature)