Agvan Dorzhiev

Who was Agvan Dorzhiev?

Agvan Lobsan Dorzhiev, also Agvan Dorjiev or Dorjieff and Agvaandorj, was a Russian-born monk of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, sometimes referred by his scholarly title as Tsenyi Khempo. He was popularly known as the Sokpo Tsеnshab Ngawang Lobsang to the Tibetans.

He was a Khory Buryat born in the village of Khara-Shibir, not far from Ulan-Ude, east of Lake Baikal.

He was a study partner and close associate of the 13th Dalai Lama, a minister of his government, and his diplomatic link with the Russian Empire. Among Tibetans he earned a legendary status, while raising the British Empire's significant anxiety of Russian presence in Tibet at the final stage of the Great Game. He is also remembered for building the Buddhist temple of St. Petersburg and signing the Tibet-Mongolia Treaty in 1913.