Frank Lee Woodward

Frank Lee Woodward (born April 13, 1871 in Saham Toney , Norfolk , England , † May 27, 1952 in Beaconsfield , West Tamar Municipality , Tasmania , Australia ) was an English Buddhist and theosophist .

life and work

Woodward was born in Saham Toney on April 13, 1871, the third son of William Woodward and Elizabeth Mary Ann Lee . The father was a pastor . Initially tutored by his father, Woodward then attended Christ's Hospital School in West Sussex . At Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge , he studied Classical Studies (Classics), finishing in 1902 with a Master of Arts (MA). Teaching at several schools in England.

In 1902 he joined the Adyar Theosophical Society and in 1903 took over the post of dean at Mahinda College, founded by Henry Steel Olcott in Galle , Sri Lanka . Until 1919 he also worked as a translator of Buddhist texts for the Pali Text Society . 1919 moved to Launceston , where he continued his Buddhist studies and translated Pali texts into English.

Works (selection)

• Francis Bacon and the Cipher story . Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar 1932.
• Gotama the Buddha . Vasanta Book Depot, Madras 1924.
• Pictures of Buddhist Ceylon and other papers . Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar 1914.
• The Buddhist doctrine of reversible merit . Galle Buddha-Dhamma-Sangama, Colombo 1911.

literature

• DH Pandita Gunawardena: FL Woodward, out of his life and thought . Colombo 1973.
• Michael William Powell: The life and work of Frank Lee Woodward, Buddhist scholar, in Ceylon and Tasmania . Dissertation, University of Tasmania 1999.
• Nigel Heyward: Woodward, Frank Lee (1871-1952) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 12. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1990, ISBN 0-522-84437-5 (English).

Web links

• Woodward as translator, with picture (English, PDF 70 kB)
• Findings of Mahinda College and image (English)
• Short biography (English)