Early life and education
Caroline Augusta Foley was born on 27 September 1857 in Wadhurst, East Sussex, England to John Foley and Caroline Elizabeth Foley (née Windham). She was born into a family with a long ecclesiastic history: her father, John Foley, served as the vicar of Wadhurst from 1847-88; her grandfather and great grandfather had served as rector of Holt, Worcestershire and vicar of Mordiford, Herefordshire, respectively.
Two years before her birth, five of her siblings died within one month in December 1855/January 1856 from diphtheria and are commemorated in the church of St Peter and St Paul, Wadhurst. One surviving brother, John Windham Foley (1848-1926), became a missionary in India and another, Charles Windham Foley (1856-1933), played in three FA Cup Finals for +more
Rhys Davids was home schooled by her father and then attended University College, London studying philosophy, psychology, and economics (PPE). She completed her BA in 1886 and an MA in philosophy in 1889. +more
Career
As a student, she was already a prolific writer and a vocal campaigner in the movements for poverty relief, children's rights, and women's suffrage.
Before moving into Buddhist studies, Rhys Davids made a contribution to Economics. She wrote seventeen entries for Palgrave Dictionary of Political Economy (1894-99/1910), including "Rent of ability," "Science, Economic, as distinguished from art," "Statics, Social, and social dynamics," as well as twelve biographical entries. +more
T. W. +more
Rhys Davids held two academic positions: Lecturer in Indian Philosophy at Victoria University of Manchester (today University of Manchester) (1910-1913); and Lecturer in the History of Buddhism at the School of Oriental Studies, later renamed the School of Oriental and African Studies (1918-1933). While teaching, she simultaneously acted as the Honorary Secretary of the Pāli Text Society which had been started by T. +more
Her translations of Pāli texts were at times idiosyncratic, but her contribution as editor, translator, and interpreter of Buddhist texts was considerable. She was one of the first scholars to translate Abhidhamma texts, known for their complexity and difficult use of technical language. +more
After the death of her son in 1917 and her husband in 1922, Rhys Davids turned to Spiritualism. She became particularly involved in various forms of psychic communication with the dead, first attempting to reach her dead son through seances and then through automatic writing. +more
Although earlier in her career she accepted more mainstream beliefs about Buddhist teachings, later in life she rejected the concept of anatta as an "original" Buddhist teaching. She appears to have influenced several of her students in this direction, including +more
Family
Caroline Augusta Foley married Thomas William Rhys Davids in 1894. They had three children: Vivien Brynhild Caroline Foley Rhys Davids (1895-1978), Arthur Rhys Davids (1897-1917), and Nesta Enid (1900-1973).
Vivien won the Clara Evelyn Mordan Scholarship to St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1915, later serving as a Surrey County Councillor, and receiving an MBE in 1973. Arthur was a gifted scholar and a decorated World War I fighter ace, but was killed in action in 1917. +more
Rhys Davids died suddenly in Chipstead, Surrey on 26 June 1942. She was 84.
Works and translations
Books
Buddhism: A Study of the Buddhist Norm (1912) *Buddhist Psychology: An Inquiry into the Analysis and Theory of Mind in Pāli Literature (1914) *Old Creeds and New Needs (1923) *The Will to Peace (1923) *Will & Willer (1926) *Gotama the Man (1928) *Sakya: or, Buddhist Origins (1928) *Stories of the Buddha : Being Selections from the Jataka (1929) *Kindred Sayings on Buddhism (1930) *The Milinda-questions : An Inquiry into its Place in the History of Buddhism with a Theory as to its Author (1930) *A Manual of Buddhism for Advanced Students (1932) *Outlines of Buddhism: A Historical Sketch (1934) *Buddhism: Its Birth and Dispersal (1934) - A completely rewritten work to replace Buddhism: A Study of the Buddhist Norm (1912) *Indian Religion and Survival: A Study (1934) *The Birth of Indian Psychology and its Development in Buddhism (1936) *To Become or not to Become (That is the Question!): Episodes in the History of an Indian Word (1937) *What is your Will (1937) - A rewrite of Will & Willr *What was the original gospel in 'Buddhism'? (1938) *More about the Hereafter (1939) *Wayfarer's Words, V. I-III - A compilation of most of C. +more
Translations
A Buddhist manual of psychological ethics or Buddhist Psychology, of the Fourth Century B. C. +more
Articles
[url=http://enlight. lib. +more
Notes
British economists
British women economists
English Indologists
Buddhist translators
Pali–English translators
British scholars of Buddhism
Alumni of University College London
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