Dossier RAS BHA/1/3/3 - Letter from Arnold Kunst to C.F. Beckingham

Born in Poland in 1903, Kunst studied at the University of Lwow, in Vienna and in Warsaw. his doctoral thesis was on Sántaraksita's treatise on Indian philosophy. He moved to England before the war and continued in the study and translation of Indian writers on philosophy and logic.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.