David Seyfort Ruegg

Who is David Seyfort Ruegg?

David Seyfort Ruegg is an eminent Buddhologist with a long career, extending from the 1950s to the present. His specialty has been Madhyamaka philosophy, a core doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism.

Ruegg graduated from École des Hautes Etudes in 1957 with degrees in historical science and Sanskrit. He published his thesis "Contributions à l'histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne" in 1959. He received a second doctorate in linguistics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where his thesis was "La théorie du tathâgatagarbha et du gotra : études sur la sotériologie et la gnoséologie du bouddhisme", with a second half thesis on Bu Rin chen grub's approach to tathâgatagarbha. In 1964 he joined the faculty of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, where he researched the history, philology and philosophy of India, Tibet and Buddhism.

From 1966-1972 Ruegg occupied the Chair of Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University. His predecessor was Jan Willem de Jong and his successor was Tilmann Vetter. He has since become associated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.