ABCD खबर

Ted Riccardi, an eminent American professor from Columbia University who passed away in 2020 AD, devoted over 50 years of his life to the study and appreciation of Nepal and the Nepali people. He left behind a large heritage library that encompassed the history of Nepal, Nepal scholarship in the West, old Devanagiri texts both from and about Nepal and the larger South-Asia. 

Prof. Ted has made numerous contributions to Nepal. He published translations of important Sanskrit inscriptions and Nepali texts into English, highlighting their cultural significance. He spent several years conducting the only archaeological digs in the Kathmandu Valley at Dumakhal (1984-85 AD, 1988-89 AD), all of which have been extensively detailed in his “Archaeological Excavation in the Kathmandu Valley” journal. After his retirement from Columbia in 2003 AD, he published two collections of Sherlock Holmes stories, The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, 2003 AD and Between the Thames and the Tiber: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 2011 AD, which together became a unique blend of knowledge of the Indian Subcontinent, Western European history, literature and music. With these stories he brought the famous fictional character Sherlock Holmes, the detective created by English author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from Lhasa through the Kodari Highway to Kathmandu, from the city of Janakpur in the Terai and eventually to Indian cities.

He was tasked with assessing the condition of the Lichhavi-era Bhadradhivas palace under the Archaeological Department’s directive. However, due to local disputes, he was compelled to stop the project and return home. He authored an extensive research paper on the excavation process and its phases in the journal “Archaeological Excavation in the Kathmandu Valley." The artifacts, including statues and coins unearthed during that period, remain preserved in the Archaeological Department. He also translated the Manadeva Inscription (from the year 525) into English, the oldest inscription in Nepal on a stone pillar that was first brought to light by Bhagvanlal Indraji in 1880 and later by Sylvain Lévi. He compiled and published the Italian-Newari dictionary in 2015, titled, A Dictionary of the Newari Language with Glossary in Italian, 1792.

Prof. Ted Riccardi, with his deep erudition in Lichhavi-era history and civilization, kept his collection of books—encompassing works on Nepal and written in various languages such as Devanagari (Nepali, Sanskrit, Hindi, etc.), English, German, French, and Italian—at his residences in New Mexico and New York. Friends such as Bajjra from Bhotaihiti and Shiva Shrestha from Ratna Bookstore assisted him in acquiring these books from distinguished bookstores and publishers in Nepal. This collection has such rare and valuable books (some worth thousands of dollars), with some being so precious that there is only a single existing edition of the book throughout the world. 

The books Prof. Ted amassed played a crucial role in enhancing the Western understanding of Nepal. They offered an in-depth portrayal of ancient Nepali society, Himalayan communities, and the broader South Asian context. Additionally, they provided insights into Germany, Europe, and the British Empire of that era. Despite their importance, these volumes were previously inaccessible to Nepali readers.

Today, with the magnanimity of Prof. Ted's wife, Ellen Coon, and the guidance of heritage expert Rabindra Puri, the repository of books and research materials have now been transported to Nepal. They are housed at the Nepal Vocational Academy (NVA) in Kamalbinayak, Bhaktapur, where a reading room named the "Professor Ted Riccardi Memorial Reading Room" has been established. This reading room, created with support from the Rabindra Puri Foundation for Conservation and generous logistical assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, is now open to all interested Nepali and foreign visitors, students and scholars.

References:

Obituary and Remembrance for Professor Theodore Ricccardi, Jr. (1937-2020) by Todd Lewis