Julius J. Lipner


Julius Lipner, who is of Indo-Czech origin, is Professor of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion at the University of Cambridge.

Early life

Lipner was born and brought up in India, for the most part in West Bengal. After his schooling in India, he obtained a Licentiate in Theology in the Pontifical Athenaeum in Poona, and then spent two years studying for an M.A. in Indian and Western philosophy at Jadavpur University in Calcutta.
Before taking his final examinations, he was invited by the philosopher H.D. Lewis to undertake doctoral research in the Self with reference to Indian and Western thought, at King's College, University of London.

Career

Lipner obtained his PhD in 1974, and then spent a little over a year as lecturer in Indian religion at the University of Birmingham, before being appointed to Cambridge University in 1975, where he has taught ever since.
Lipner has numerous publications in his fields of specialism to his credit; these include 12 volumes and more than 80 articles and translations.
He lectures widely in the UK and abroad, and was appointed Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor in a number of universities both nationally and internationally. He made a number of radio and TV appearances, and is a member of the editorial board of several international journals. His special fields of study are Vedantic thought, 19th-century Bengal, and inter-cultural and inter-religious understanding, with special reference to the Hindu and Christian traditions. One of his research projects is the theory and practice of Hindu image-worship.
Lipner is a Fellow and former Vice-President of Clare Hall] - a postgraduate College of the University of Cambridge - and in 2008 he became a Fellow of the British Academy.

Personal life

Lipner married his Bengali wife Anindita in 1971; they have two children and six grandchildren.

Publications

Among his published books are the following—