Thubten Samphel
Thubten Samphel | |
|---|---|
 Samphel in 2013 | |
| Born | November 2, 1956 Lhasa, Tibet Area, China |
| Died | 4 June 2022 (aged 65) Bylakuppe, India |
| Nationality | Tibetan |
| Education | Delhi University Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Writer Government official |
Thubten Samphel (Standard Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་བསམ་འཕེལ; 2 November 1956 – 4 June 2022) was a Tibetan writer, journalist, and government official.[1] He worked as a secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a spokesperson of the Central Tibetan Administration, based in Dharamshala. He also worked for the administration's think tank, Tibet Policy Institute.
Biography[edit]
Family[edit]
Born in Lhasa in 1956, Samphel was the son of parents who worked as servants to the mother of the 14th Dalai Lama, Diki Tsering.[2]
Exile in India[edit]
Three years after the 1959 Tibetan uprising, Samphel left Tibet with his older brother. They arrived in Tingri before crossing the Chinese-Nepalese border into the Solukhumbu District.
Studies[edit]
Tsering Dolma, older sister of the 14th Dalai Lama, sent Samphel to school at the Tibetan Children's Villages before he joined Dr. Graham's Homes, a missionary school in Kalimpong. After his secondary studies, he attended St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Delhi University, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in history.[3] While studying for his master's, he was employed in the office of Tenzin Geyche Tethong, a secretary in the private office of the Dalai Lama.[2]
Administrative career[edit]
In 1980, Samphel became an official within the Tibetan government-in-exile. He was among the first group of Tibetan Fulbright Scholars to study in the United States, where he earned a degree in journalism from Columbia University.[2] In 1985, he was sent to Amdo by the Dalai Lama as part of the Fact-finding missions to Tibet.[4] From 1999 to 2012, he was secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a spokesperson of the Central Tibetan Administration.[2] In 2012, he became director of the Tibet Policy Institute.[5][6] In November 2018, he retired from the Central Tibetan Administration.[2]
Writer[edit]
Samphel wrote articles for numerous Tibetan, Indian, and foreign newspapers.[2] He authored the novel Falling through the roof.[2]
Death[edit]
Thubten Samphel died in Bylakuppe on 4 June 2022.[7]
Publications[edit]
- Les dalaï-lamas du Tibet (2001)
- Falling through the Roof (2008)
- Tibet : from Tranquillity to Turmoil (2008)
- Tibet: Reports from Exile (2019)
- Copper Mountain (2022)
References[edit]
- ^ "Noted writer, intellectual Thupten Samphel passes away at 65". Phayul.com. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Thubten Samphul". Tibetan Who's Who. 16 January 2014.
- ^ Mehrotra, Rajiv (2013). Voices in Exile. Rupa Publications. ISBN 978-8129130785.
- ^ "A refugee's best friend: Interview with Thubten Samphel". Phayul.com. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "TPPRC Organise Round Tables on Burma-Tibet Relations & Proposals for Indian Policy Makers". Tibetan Parliamentary & Policy Research Centre. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Kalon Tripa inaugurates Tibet Policy Institute". Phayul.com. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Dolma, Yangchen (6 June 2022). "Tibetans held prayer service for Thubten Samphel, former Director of Tibet Policy Institute". Tibet post International. Dharamshala. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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