Isaline Blew Horner

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(30 March 1896 – 25 April 1981), usually cited as I. B. Horner, was an English

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

, a leading scholar of

Pali literature Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali (IAST: pāl̤i) is the traditional language. The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pāli Canon, the authoritative scriptures of Theravada school ...

and late president of the

Pali Text Society The Pāli Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts." Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...

(1959–1981).

Life

On 30 March 1896 Horner was born in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Horner was a first cousin once removed of the British

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

monk

Ajahn Amaro Ajahn Amaro (born 2 September 1956) is a Theravada, Theravāda Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and teacher, and abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in South East England. The centre, in practice ...

Cambridge years

In 1917, at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's women's college

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, Horner was awarded the title of a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in moral sciences.Jayetilleke (2007). After her undergraduate studies, Horner remained at Newnham College, becoming in 1918 an assistant librarian and then, in 1920, acting librarian. In 1921, Horner traveled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and Burma where she was first introduced to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, its literature and related languages. In 1923, Horner returned to England, where she accepted a Fellowship at Newnham College and became its librarian. In 1928, she became the first Sarah Smithson Research Fellow in

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Studies. In 1930, she published her first book, ''Women Under Primitive Buddhism''. In 1933, she edited her first volume of Pali text, the third volume of the ''Papancasudani'' ( Majjhima Nikaya

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

). In 1934, Horner was awarded the title of an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from Cambridge. From 1939 to 1949, she served on Cambridge's Governing Body. From 1926 to 1959, Horner lived and traveled with her companion "Elsie,"

Eliza Marian Butler Eliza Marian Butler (29 December 1885 – 13 November 1959), was an English linguist, academic, and scholar of German who successively held two prestigious endowed professorships: the Henry Simon Chair in German (1936–1944) at University of Man ...

(18851959).University of Cambridge (2007).Burford (2005).Watts (2006).

PTS years

In 1936, due to Butler's accepting a position at Manchester University, Horner left Newnham to live in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. There, Horner completed the fourth volume of the ''Papancasudani'' (published 1937). In 1938, she published the first volume of a translation of the

Vinaya Pitaka The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

. (She was to publish a translation of the last Vinaya Pitaka volume in 1966.) In 1942, Horner became the Honorary Secretary of the Pali Text Society (PTS). In 1943, in response to her parents' needs and greater PTS involvement, Horner moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where she lived until her death. In 1959, she became the Society's President and Honorary Treasurer.

Honors

In 1964, in recognition of her contributions to Pali literature, Horner was awarded an honorary

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

by Ceylon University. In 1977, Horner received a second honorary Ph.D from Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. In 1980,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

made Horner an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) for her lifelong contribution to

Buddhist literature Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...

Books

Horner's books (ordered by first identified publication date) include: * ''Women under primitive Buddhism : laywomen and almswomen'' (1930/1975) * ''Papañcasūdanī: Majjhimanikāyaṭṭhakathā of Buddhaghosâcariya'' (1933) * ''Early Buddhist theory of man perfected : a study of the Arahan concept and of the implications of the aim to perfection in religious life, traced in early canonical and post-canonical Pali literature'' (1936/1975) * ''Book of the discipline (Vinaya-pitaka)'' (1938), translated by I. B. Horner * '' Alice M. Cooke, a memoir'' (1940) *
Early Buddhism And The Taking Of Life
' (1945/1967) * ''Madhuratthavilāsinī nāma Buddhavaṃsaṭṭhakathā of Bhadantâcariya Buddhadatta Mahāthera'' (1946/1978), ed. by I.B. Horner. * ''Living thoughts of Gotama the Buddha'' (1948/2001), by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and I.B. Horner * ''Collection of the Middle Length Sayings'' (1954) * ''Ten

Jātaka The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...

stories'' (1957) *
Women In Early Buddhist Literature
' (1961) * ''Early Buddhist poetry'' (1963) * '' Milinda's questions'' (1963), translated by I. B. Horner * ''Buddhist texts through the ages'' (1964/1990), translated and edited by

Edward Conze Edward Conze, born Eberhard Julius Dietrich Conze (1904–1979), was a scholar of Marxism and Buddhism, known primarily for his commentaries and translations of the Prajñāpāramitā literature. Biography Conze's parents, Dr. Ernst Conze (1872 ...

in collaboration with I.B. Horner, David Snellgrove, Arthur Waley * ''Minor anthologies of the Pali Canon (vol. 4): Vimanavatthu and

Petavatthu __NOTOC__ The ''Petavatthu'' () is a Theravada Buddhist scripture, included in the Minor Collection (''Khuddaka Nikaya'') of the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka. It ostensibly reports stories about and conversations among the Buddha and his disciple ...

'' (1974), translated by I. B. Horner *
Noble Quest: Ariyapariyesana Sutta
' (1974) * ''Minor anthologies of the Pali Canon (vol. 3): Buddhavamsa and Cariyapitaka'' (1975), translated by I. B. Horner * ''Apocryphal birth-stories (

Paññāsa Jātaka The ''Paññāsa Jātaka'' (; ) is a non-canonical collection of 50 stories of the Buddha's past lives, originating in mainland Southeast Asia. The stories were based on the style of the ''Jātakatthavaṇṇanā'', but are not from the Pāli Can ...

)'' (1985), translated by I.B. Horner and Padmanabh S. Jaini *
The Blessed One's City Of Dhamma: From the Milindapañha
' (1993), translated by I.B. Horner and N.K.G. Mendis (Buddhist Publication Society, Bodhi Leaves No. 130)

References

Sources

* Boucher, Sandy (2007).
Appreciating the Lineage of Buddhist Feminist Scholars
, in Rosemary Radford Ruether (ed.) ''Feminist Theologies'' (2007). Minneapolis: Fortress Press. . Retrieved 2008-08-21 from * Burford, Grace (2005).
Newnham Biographies: Isaline B. Horner (1896-1981)
" Retrieved 2008-08-21 from "Newnham College" at * * Jayetilleke, Rohan L. (2007).
The pioneer Pali scholar of the West
" Retrieved 2008-08-20 from "Associated Newspapers of Ceylon". * Norman, K.R. (1982)
Isaline Blew Horner (1896-1981) (Obituary)
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5 (2), 145-149 * University of Cambridge (2007).
Isaline Blew Horner (1896-1981), Pali scholar
" Retrieved 2024-04-11. * Watts, Sheila (2006).
Newnham Biographies: Eliza Marian (Elsie) Butler (1885 – 1959)
. Retrieved 2008-08-21 {{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Isaline Blew 1896 births 1981 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge English Indologists Linguists of Pali Pali–English translators 20th-century British translators