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 (, ''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 awarded during World ...

. After the war he engaged in research in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

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

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. In 1938 he set off to India 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''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and China in order to research aspects of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. During this journey he tried but failed to reach

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

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, M ...

lineage at Shangu Gompa, a

lamasery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

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 subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

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.

Bibliography

*Migot, André (translated by Peter Fleming) (1955).
Tibetan Marches
', Rupert Hart-Davis, London

References

1892 births 1967 deaths 20th-century French explorers French travel writers Tibet French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers {{France-academic-bio-stub