Eugene Watson Burlingame

Born in Albany, New York, in 1876, Eugene Watson Burlingame was an American scholar of Pāli and Buddhist literature. He studied at Yale and later at the University of Pennsylvania, earning advanced degrees before continuing Sanskrit study at Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

His best-known work centers on translating Buddhist texts for general readers as well as students. Surviving bibliographic records for his work include Buddhist Legends (1921), Buddhist Parables (1922), and The Grateful Elephant: And Other Stories Translated from the Pāli (1923), books that helped introduce traditional Buddhist narratives to English readers.

Burlingame died in 1932. Though not a widely known public figure today, he remains notable for the care he brought to presenting Pāli literature in clear, readable English.