Edvard Amundsen

{{Short description|Norwegian linguist and missionary (1873–1928)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Edvard Amundsen

| image = Edvard Amundsen.png

| image_size = 150px

| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|01|27}}

| birth_place = Lille Kirkeholmen, Sannidal, Norway

| death_date = {{death date and age|1928|12|21|1873|01|27}}

| death_place = Larvik, Norway

| occupation = Missionary, linguist

| spouse = Petrea Ness

}}

Edvard Amundsen (anglicised Edward Amundsen; January 27, 1873 – December 21, 1928) was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary in China and India near the borders of Tibet. He is also remembered as an explorer and Tibetan specialist.

Biography

Amundsen was born in {{ill|Lille Kirkeholmen|no}} in the Municipality of Sannidal.Jørgensen, M. 2008. Edvard Amundsen – en norsk rhododendron-misjonær? Lapprosen: medlemsblad for den norske rhododendronforening 2(3): 4–6. In 1894, he journeyed to India as part of Annie Royle Taylor's Tibetan Pioneer Mission, which would fail within a year. In 1896, together with Theo Sørensen, he traveled to Darjeeling and Kalimpong in the Himalayas near the borders of Tibet as a missionary for the China Inland Mission, where he studied Tibetan religion and customs.Kaul, H. K., & Hari Krishen Kaul. 1997. Travellers' India: An Anthology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. lx. After their language studies Amundsen attempted to travel from there to Lhasa in Tibet but was halted eight days journey short of the "forbidden city." Later the two of them went to Kangding (Sichuan), China in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau to the west. His wife Petrea Ness (1862–1928), from Mandal, Norway, was also a missionary and accompanied him on his trips to China and Tibet.{{cite web |title=Historisk blikk på vårt arbeid i Kina |url=https://mknu.no/historie/historie-kina/ |website=Misjonskirken Norge |accessdate=March 22, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Karttunen |first1=Klaus |title=Amundsen, Edward |url=https://whowaswho-indology.info/249/amundsen-edward/ |website=WhoWasWho-Indology |date=February 2017 |access-date=26 August 2022}}

During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 he left China for Darjeeling,Kværne, Per. 1973. A Norwegian Traveller in Tibet: Theo Sörensen and the Tibetan Collection at the Oslo University Library. New Delhi: Mañjuśrī Pub. House, p. 4. but in 1903 he returned and then worked in Yunnan for the British and Foreign Bible Society until 1911. From 1918/19 to 1924 he served in China for the last time for the Mission Covenant Church of Norway.

He died in Larvik. A species of rhododendron is named after him: Rhododendron amundsenianum.Rhododendron Handbook. 1947. London: Rhododendron Group, The Royal Horticultural Society, p. 5.

Selected works

[https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.1624 Primer of Standard Tibetan] (Darjeeling, 1903)
[https://archive.org/details/cu31924023488558 In the Land of the Lamas: The Story of Trashilhamo, a Tibetan Lassie] (novel; London, 1910)
Tibetan Manual, with Vocabulary (by Vincent E. Henderson, edited by Amundsen; Calcutta, 1903)

Gallery

File:Tibetan Pioneer Mission 2.jpg|Edvard Amundsen (first from left in the front row, holding a concertina) was a member of Annie Royle Taylor's Tibetan Pioneer Mission; {{circa|1894}}.

File:Tibetan Pioneer Band 3.jpg|"Tibetan Pioneer Mission Band" in Tibetan dress, {{circa|1894}}.

File:Map illustrating Edward Amundsen's journey in Sechuen, East Tibet and Yunnan.webp|1900 map illustrating Amundsen's journey in Sichuan, East Tibet and Yunnan.