David Lorenzen


David N. Lorenzen is a scholar of religious studies, author, and professor of South Asian History at the Centre for Asian and African studies, El Colegio de México.
He is chiefly notable for publishing several essays and books on ancient, medieval, and modern periods in South Asian history and religion, especially on Hinduism and Missionaries in India, namely, Who invented Hinduism?, Bhakti Religion in North India, The Scourge Of The Mission: Marco della Tomba in Hindustan, and many more.

Education

David N. Lorenzen received his doctorate in the History of Indian Religions from the Australian National University in 1968 where he studied with the historian A. L. Basham. Before that he was in India on a Junior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies, studied ancient Indian history at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, and did his undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University.

Academic career

Lorenzen was a professor and researcher in the Center for Asian and African Studies at El Colegio de México from 1970 to 2010. Since 2011 he has been professor of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at the same institution. He served as editor of the Asia and Africa Studies de from 1987 to 1991 and has been a member of the editorial committee since 1970.
Lorenzen has been visiting professor at the University of Iowa, Harvard University, the École des Hautes Études and La Università Sapienza. He has presented papers at many academic conferences in various countries. Since 1984 he has been a member and then emeritus member of the National System of Researchers of the Mexican government. He has received research grants from the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Social Science Research Council, and the Indian government.

Work

The academic research of David Lorenzen has concentrated mainly on the history of Hindu and Christian religious movements in India, but he has also worked on aspects of Indian political history and literature. He has published translations into both Spanish and English of texts written in Hindi and Sanskrit. The topics of his publications include bhakti religious movements, Kabir and his followers, the Naths, the Kapalikas, the Kalamukhas, and Capuchin missionaries in India. He has also written about the life of Shankaracharya, the history of the Gupta Empire, and the conceptualization of Hinduism in pre-colonial and colonial India.
Lorenzen has edited and reviewed essays published on notable journals and books.