Agehananda Bharati
1923-1991

Agehananda Bharati was born Leopold Fischer in Vienna, Austria on April 20, 1923. He spent his childhood in Vienna where he learned how to speak Hindi and began his studies of classical Sanskrit. He became a member of Hitler's 'Free India Legion' during World War Two and was often mistaken as an Indian. His expeditions during war gave him a taste for traveling, and his desire to travel brought him to India; where he became a novice in a Hindu monastery. In time, he was initiated into by the Dasanami Sannyasi order and became a Swami. It was on the banks of Ganges between funeral pyres that he was donned the ochre robe. Now a sannyasin, Leopold Fischer changed his name to Swami Agehananda Bharati. Next, he started a journey across the 1,500 miles of India on foot as a mendicant monk with a beggar's bowl.

Although he attended the University of Vienna, Bharati kept up his studies as a monk and took up teaching as well. Agehananda Bharati's travels were as extensive as his teachings were impressive. He was a professional expert in Cultural Anthropology, South Asian Studies, Linguistics, and Comparative Philosophy. Most of these subjects he taught in Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, and Nalanda Institute in India. He also taught in a Buddhist Academy in Bangkok, Thailand where he first began his teachings on Comparative Religion. Bharati became a visiting professor on Indian philosophy in the University of Tokyo and Kyoto. In 1956 Bharati came to the U.S. as a research associate for Washington University. A year later he transferred to Syracuse and joined the anthropology faculty. He settled down in Syracuse and became Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies. He was granted U.S. citizenship in 1968.

Bharati had become a member of numerous organizations including: American Association of University Professors, American Anthropological Association (fellow), Association for Applied Anthropology (fellow), American Linguistic Society, International Association for General Semantics, Mensa International, Mind Association, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Royal Philosophical Society, Royal Siam Society, International Academy of Human Rights, and New York Academy of Sciences. (Contemporary Authors, 2003)

Agehananda Bharati died on May 14, 1991. In his life, Agehananda Bharati was a warrior, a monk, a student, a teacher, an author, and a traveler. By the time of his death Bharati had over 500 published works, including an autobiography called; The Ochre Robe.

Agehananda Bharati
1923-1991

Agehananda Bharati was born Leopold Fischer in Vienna, Austria on April 20, 1923. He spent his childhood in Vienna where he learned how to speak Hindi and began his studies of classical Sanskrit. He became a member of Hitler's 'Free India Legion' during World War Two and was often mistaken as an Indian. His expeditions during war gave him a taste for traveling, and his desire to travel brought him to India; where he became a novice in a Hindu monastery. In time, he was initiated into by the Dasanami Sannyasi order and became a Swami. It was on the banks of Ganges between funeral pyres that he was donned the ochre robe. Now a sannyasin, Leopold Fischer changed his name to Swami Agehananda Bharati. Next, he started a journey across the 1,500 miles of India on foot as a mendicant monk with a beggar's bowl.

Although he attended the University of Vienna, Bharati kept up his studies as a monk and took up teaching as well. Agehananda Bharati's travels were as extensive as his teachings were impressive. He was a professional expert in Cultural Anthropology, South Asian Studies, Linguistics, and Comparative Philosophy. Most of these subjects he taught in Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, and Nalanda Institute in India. He also taught in a Buddhist Academy in Bangkok, Thailand where he first began his teachings on Comparative Religion. Bharati became a visiting professor on Indian philosophy in the University of Tokyo and Kyoto. In 1956 Bharati came to the U.S. as a research associate for Washington University. A year later he transferred to Syracuse and joined the anthropology faculty. He settled down in Syracuse and became Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies. He was granted U.S. citizenship in 1968.

Bharati had become a member of numerous organizations including: American Association of University Professors, American Anthropological Association (fellow), Association for Applied Anthropology (fellow), American Linguistic Society, International Association for General Semantics, Mensa International, Mind Association, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Royal Philosophical Society, Royal Siam Society, International Academy of Human Rights, and New York Academy of Sciences. (Contemporary Authors, 2003)

Agehananda Bharati died on May 14, 1991. In his life, Agehananda Bharati was a warrior, a monk, a student, a teacher, an author, and a traveler. By the time of his death Bharati had over 500 published works, including an autobiography called; The Ochre Robe.