Identity area
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Title
Date(s)
- 1953 (Creation)
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Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Simon Everard Digby was born in India in 1932 and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He travelled in India and Pakistan before returning to England to complete a PhD at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies. He returned to India in 1961-1962 and continued to make trips to India throughout his life. He was Honorary Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1968-1984. During this time he worked to identify some of these documents. In 1972 he was appointed to a post in the Department of Eastern Art of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He also taught and examined post-graduate students at SOAS. He died in Delhi in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.
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Scope and content
There were no entrants for the 1952-1953 Essay prize. See Related Material for further details. The 1953-1954 prize was won by Simon Everard Digby. The archival material consists of two copies of the printed notification of the "Royal Asiatic Society's Universities Prize Essay Competition" stating the titles of the essay, the possibility of entering an essay on an Oriental subject of the entrant's own choice. and the basic rules of the competition. Printed material, 2 copies, dated 1 September 1953.
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- English
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The Minutes of the Council Meeting for 12 June 1952 note that Professor Tritton and Dr. Basham were appointed as the Essay Committee. and those for 3 October 1952 record the essay titles chosen and approved. In the report of the Anniversary Meeting in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1953, p.184 it was reported that there were no competitors.
The Minutes of the Council Meeting for 11 June 1953 record the choice of essay title for that year and in the Minutes for 8 April 1954, it was noted that the Universities' Prize Essay had been awarded to Mr. S.E. Digby of Trinity College, Cambridge. In the report of the Anniversary Meeting in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1954, p.204, the subjects and the winner of the Essay prize were recorded.