author
Tivadar Duka
1825–1908
A soldier, doctor, and scholar, he lived an unusually wide-ranging life that took him from the Hungarian Revolution to Britain and India. He is especially remembered for his writings on Asia and for helping preserve the legacy of the explorer-scholar Sándor Kőrösi Csoma.
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About the author
Born on June 22, 1825, in Dukafalva, Tivadar Duka first trained in law, but his life changed dramatically during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–49, when he served as an officer. After the defeat of the revolution, he escaped to Western Europe, eventually settled in Britain, and became a naturalized British subject.
Duka then studied medicine in London and joined the Bengal Medical Service, which took him to India. Alongside his medical career, he developed strong scholarly interests in language, history, and Asian studies. He became known in Britain as Theodore Duka and built a reputation as a careful researcher and writer.
He is best known today for his work on the life and travels of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, the Hungarian pioneer of Tibetan studies. Duka also took an active part in learned societies, including the Royal Asiatic Society, and remained a respected link between Hungarian and British intellectual life until his death in Bournemouth on May 5, 1908.