Image of Dr. H.V. Guenther (left) , Head, Department of Far Eastern Studies, and Leslie Kawamura, department member, standing in front of display case during ceremony marking the 60th birthday of Dr. Guenther.

Bio/Historical Note: Herbert Vighnāntaka Günther (Guenther) was born in 1917 in Bremen, Germany. Because he showed a great interest in the Orient from an early age his father encouraged him to pursue studies in this field. To this end he began the study of the Chinese language when he was nine. By the time he graduated from high school in 1936, he had also learned the Sanskrit language. He went to Munich for further study after graduation, earning a PhD in 1939. Four years later he received the degree Dr. Phil. Habil. in Vienna. From this beginning, Günther went on to become one of the leading Buddhist scholars of his time. Amongst the most influential of his European mentors were Professor Wilhelm Geiger, a specialist in Pali and Sinhalese, and Walter Wüst – both of Munich. In Vienna, W. Havers was his main teacher. During this time his aptitude for languages manifested itself. In addition to Pali, Sinhalese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, English, German, Russian, and Hindi, there were those languages he studied 'for enjoyment' – Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Spanish, and Italian. He progressed to teaching and taught at Vienna University from 1943-1950. Günther left in 1950, refusing to serve under the rehabilitated ex-Nazi, Erich Frauwallner, whose academic chair had been restored to him. Günther journeyed to India, where he lived and taught for the next fourteen years. From 1950-1958 he was at Lucknow University, where he developed a deep friendship with Kailas Nath Kaul, a naturalist, ethnologist and philosopher. He then went to the Sanskrit University in Varanasi, where he was Head of the Department of Comparative Philosophy and Buddhist Studies from 1958-1963. The following year was spent at the International School of America. Günther was Invited in 1964 by Dr. J. Francis Leddy to become professor and head of the Department of Far Eastern Studies, where he carried on his teaching and research work up to his retirement. Dr. Günther died in 2006 at age 88.