Thubten Samphel

Thubten Samphel
Samphel in 2013
Born(1956-11-02)2 November 1956
Lhasa, Tibet Area, China
Died4 June 2022(2022-06-04) (aged 65)
Bylakuppe, India
NationalityTibetan
EducationDelhi 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

Family

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

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

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 [fr], a secretary in the private office of the Dalai Lama.[2]

Administrative career

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 [fr].[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

Samphel wrote articles for numerous Tibetan, Indian, and foreign newspapers.[2] He authored the novel Falling through the roof.[2]

Death

Thubten Samphel died in Bylakuppe on 4 June 2022.[7]

Publications

  • 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

  1. ^ "Noted writer, intellectual Thupten Samphel passes away at 65". Phayul.com. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Thubten Samphul". Tibetan Who's Who. 16 January 2014.
  3. ^ Mehrotra, Rajiv (2013). Voices in Exile. Rupa Publications. ISBN 978-8129130785.
  4. ^ "A refugee's best friend: Interview with Thubten Samphel". Phayul.com. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "Kalon Tripa inaugurates Tibet Policy Institute". Phayul.com. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  7. ^ 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.