CONZE, Edward (1904-?):
English born, German Communist who fled Nazi Germany to take
refuge in England in 1933 where he converted to BUDDHISM and became the greatest
interpreter of Buddhism to the West. His book Buddhism: Its Essence and Development
(1951) is the best single introduction to Buddhism while his Buddhist Thought in India
(1962) remains an undervalued classic. His autobiography The Memoirs of a Modern
Gnostic (1979) is entertaining reading for anyone wishing to understand modern
religious thought.
