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Thubten Samphel

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Thubten Samphel
Samphel in 2013
Born(1956-11-02)2 November 1956
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

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Family

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Death

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

Publications

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  • 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

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  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.