Philip Denwood

Philip Denwood is a British Tibetologist noted for his work on traditional Tibetan arts and handicrafts, Himalayan architecture and Tibetan linguistics.

He was born on 29 August 1941 in Workington, Cumberland where he also grew up. In 1962 he gained his BA in Geography and History at University College London (UCL), and later in 1964 an MA in Architecture and Town Planning from Liverpool University. He became a research Fellow in Tibetan at SOAS in 1965 and became Lecturer in Tibetan in 1973.

Denwood describes his interest in Himalayan cultures as purely accidental. Having completed his study at Liverpool and based in England, Denwood was living next door to a friend of his from college David Snellgrove. Snellgrove had not long returned from a trip to the Himalayas and had brought five Tibetan refugees back with him around the time of the first wave of exiles post 1959. Denwood's intrigue about the situation with his friend's house guests, coupled with his interest in oriental architecture inspired him to join Snellgrove on an overland trip to India he had been planning. They drove a landrover to Nepal together, (which they later sold to a Bhutanese army officer,) and Denwood stayed there learning Tibetan while Snellgrove went ahead to South India. When Snellgrove returned to Nepal, Denwood joined him once again and they drove to Bhutan. The trip lasted a year in total and learning the Tibetan language had prompted Denwood's interest in linguistics.

When he returned to England, Denwood landed the training post of Research Fellow of Tibetan at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS), where he was eventually appointed as a lecturer.

During his time learning Tibetan in Nepal, Denwood had observed the lack of material available for learning the language, and found the native approach to teaching too unscientific. His budding interest in linguistics brought about his own analysis of the language, learning also from Richard Keith Sprigg who at the time was teaching in the SOAS Linguistics department. This study culminated in the writing of his own book of Tibetan grammar, titled; 'Tibetan'.

Denwood's interest in Tibetan handicrafts he again describes as accidental. The SOAS library had sent him to Delhi, India on a placement for 6 months. He traveled with his wife and two young children. Having been introduced to the Tibetan community there he became familiar with the carpet trade. It was his wife who decided to learn how to weave a carpet, whilst Denwood wrote a book about the process.

Denwood retired from teaching at SOAS in 2006.