Edvard Amundsen (anglicised Edward Amundsen; January 27, 1873 – December 21, 1928) was a
NorwegianLutheran 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
Lille Kirkeholmen [
no] in the
Municipality of Sannidal.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3][4]
^Karttunen, Klaus (February 2017).
"Amundsen, Edward". WhoWasWho-Indology. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
^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.
^Rhododendron Handbook. 1947. London: Rhododendron Group, The Royal Horticultural Society, p. 5.