Biography
René Mario de Nebesky-Wojkowitz was born in Groß Hoschütz in Moravia on 29 June 1923. After completing his secondary education in Leitmeritz and Prague, he devoted himself to the study of Central Asian ethnology, Tibetan, and Mongolian at the universities of Berlin and Vienna. It was especially the teachings of the late Robert Bleichsteiner at theCause(s) of Death
According to de Jong,de Jong, "René Mario von Nebesky-Wojkowitz †" René de Nebesky-Wojkowitz died of pneumonia. However, his cause of death has been almost completely eclipsed by how tragically young he was when he succumbed. Because of this, an urban legend of sorts has come to surround Nebesky-Wojkowitz's death, with many members of the Tibetan Buddhist community believing that his death was actually brought on by the wrath of the very protector deities he studied so assiduously. In his critique of Tibetan shamanism, scholar Zeff Bjerken describes his own personal experience with this widespread belief: : ebesky-Wojkowitz’ssudden untimely death, shortly after the...completion f ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet'' was thought to have been brought about by Tibet’s protective deities, who were avenging his efforts to reveal their secrets and magic power. At theBibliography
# “Die tibetische Bön-Religion,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 2 (1947), pp. 26–68. # “Das tibetische Staatsorakel,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 3 (1948), pp. 136–155. # "Schriftwesen, Papierherstellung und Buchdruck bei den Tibetern" (Vienna, 1949; unpublished dissertation). # “Einige tibetische Werke über Grammatik und Poetik,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 4 (1949), pp. 154–159. # “Ein Beitrag zur tibetischen Ikonographie: mGon po phyag drug und seine Begleiter,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 5 (1950), pp. 138–158. # “The Tibetan Kagyupa Sect,” ''Stepping-Stones'' 1 pp. 185–187. # (with Geoffrey Gorer) “The Use of the Thread-Crosses in Lepcha Lamaist Ceremonies,” ''The Eastern Anthropologist'' 4 (1950–1951), pp. 65–87. # “A Contribution to Mahāyāna Iconography,” ''Stepping-Stones'' 2 (1951), pp. 77–82. # “Some Recent Publications on Tibet,” ''Stepping-Stones'' 2 pp. 1–10. # “Ancient Funeral Ceremonies of the Lepchas,” ''The Eastern Anthropologist'' 5 (1951–1952), pp. 27–40. # “A Tibetan Protective Deity,” ''The Eastern Anthropologist'' 5 -3(1952), pp. 87–95. # “Prehistoric Beads from Tibet,” ''Man'' 52 (1952), art. 183, pp. 131–132. # “Tibetan Drum Divination, ‘Ngamo’,” ''Ethnos'' 17 (1952), pp. 149-157. # “Hochzeitslieder der Lepchas,” ''Asiatische Studien'' 6 -4(1952), pp. 30–40. # “Die Legende vom Turmbau der Lepcha,” ''Anthropos'' 48 (1953), pp. 889–897. # “Neuerwerbungen aus Sikkim und Tibet,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 8 (1953), pp. 269–272. # “Hunting and Fishing among the Lepchas,” ''Ethnos'' 18 (1953), pp. 21–30. # “A Report on Ethnographical Research in the Sikkim Himalayas 1950-1953,” ''Wiener Völkerkundliche Mitteilungen'' 2 (1954), pp. 33–38. # Review of S. Hummel, ''Geschichte der tibetischen Kunst'', Leipzig, 1953 – ''Asiatische Studien'' 9 (1955), pp. 139–141. # ''Wo die Berge Götter sind. Drei Jahre bei unerforschten Völkern des Himalaya'' (Stuttgart, 1955); Dutch translation: ''Bergen, Goden, Magiërs'', Baarn, 1956; English translation: ''Where the Gods are Mountains: Three Years among the People of the Himalayas,'' London, 1956, New York, 1957; French translation: ''Les montagnes où naissent les dieux'', Paris, 1957. # “Robert Bleichsteiner †,” ''WZKM'' 52 (1953–1955), pp. 269–271. # ''Der Kult und die Ikonographie der tibetischen Schutzgottheiten'' / ''The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'' (Habilitation; Vienna, 1955); ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'' (The Hague: Mouton, 1956); Chinese translation ''Xīzàng de shénlíng hé guǐguài'' 西藏的神灵和鬼怪 (Lhasa, Xīzàng rénmín chūbǎnshè 西藏人民出版社, 1993), . # “Ergebnisse der 2. Forschungsreise nach Nepal und Sikkim 1956-1957,” ''Wiener Völkerkundliche Mitteilungen'' 4 (1956), pp. 213–216. # Review of P. Cyrill von Korvin-Krasinski, ''Die Tibetische Medizinphilosophie: Der Mensch Als Mikrokosmos'', Zurich, 1953 – ''American Anthropologist'' 58 (October 1956), pp. 936–938. # “Tibetan Blockprints and Manuscripts in Possession of the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna,” ''Archiv für Völkerkunde'' 13 (1958), pp. 174–209. # Review of D. L. Snellgrove, ''Buddhist Himālaya'', Oxford, 1957 – ''OLZ'' 54 (1959), pp. 530–532. # ''Tibetan Religious Dances: Tibetan Text and Annotated Translation of the'' ’chams yig (The Hague/Paris: Mouton, 1976); published posthumously by Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf, with an appendix by Walter Graf, .Further information
* Zeff Bjerken, “Exorcising the Illusion of Bon ‘Shamans’: A Critical Genealogy of Shamanism in Tibetan Religions,” ''Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines'' 6 (2004), pp.4-59. * John Blofeld, ''The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet: A Practical Guide'', Boulder, Prajñā Press (1982). * J.W. de Jong, "René Mario von Nebesky-Wojkowitz †," ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' 3 (1959), pp. 306–309. * Henri Desroche, Review of ''Tibetan Religious Dances: Tibetan Text and Annotated Translation of the'' ’chams yig, The Hague, 1976 - ''Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 23e Année'' 45.2 (1978), p. 286. * Mireille Helffer, Review of ''Tibetan Religious Dances: Tibetan Text and Annotated Translation of the'' ’chams yig, The Hague, 1976 - ''L'Homme'' 18 -2(1978), pp. 217–219. * K.W. Lim, Review of ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'', The Hague, 1956 - ''Bibliotheca Orientalis'' 16 -2(1959), pp. 60–62. * H.E. Richardson, Review of ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'', The Hague, 1956 - ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'' no.3-4 (1957), pp. 221–222. * Marian W. Smith, Review of ''Where the Gods are Mountains: Three Years among the People of the Himalayas'', London, 1956 - ''The Geographical Journal'' 123 (1957), p. 246. * D.L. Snellgrove, Review of ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'', The Hague, 1956 - ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'' 21 -3(1958), pp. 649–650. * R.A. Stein, Review of ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'', The Hague, 1956 - ''Journal Asiatique'' 244 (1956), pp. 229–236. * Charles Stonor, Review of ''Where the Gods are Mountains: Three Years among the People of the Himalayas'', London, 1956 - ''Man'' 57 (1957), p. 61. * Alex Wayman, Review of ''Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities'', The Hague, 1956 - ''Journal of Asian Studies'' 16 (1957), pp. 442–444. * n.a., Review-essay of ''Tibetan Religious Dances: Tibetan Text and Annotated Translation of the'' ’chams yig, The Hague, 1976 - ''Asian Music'' 10 (1979), pp. 159–178.Notes
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Rene De Tibetologists Austrian ethnologists People from Opava District Czechoslovak emigrants to Austria 1923 births 1959 deaths Czechoslovak historians Himalayan studies