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Satish Kumar
Visiting Fellow
When he was only nine years old, Satish Kumar renounced the world and joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. Dissuaded from his path by an inner voice at the age of eighteen, he left the monastic order and became a campaigner for land reform, working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a peaceful world into reality.
Fired by the example of Bertrand Russell, he undertook an 8,000 mile peace pilgrimage, walking from India to America without any money, through deserts, mountains, storms and snow. It was an adventure during which he was thrown into jail in France, faced a loaded gun in America – and delivered packets of ‘peace tea’ to the leaders of the four nuclear powers.
In 1973, he settled in England, taking the Editorship of Resurgence magazine. He has been the editor ever since (30 + years!). He is the guiding spirit behind a number of ecological, spiritual and educational ventures in Britain. He founded the Small School in Hartland, a pioneering secondary school (aged 11-16), which brings into its curriculum ecological and spiritual values. In 1991, Schumacher College, a residential international center for the study of ecological and spiritual values, was founded, of which he held the title of Director of Programme.
Following Indian tradition, in his fiftieth year, he undertook another pilgrimage: again carrying no money, he walked 2,000 miles to the holy places of Britain – Glastonbury, Canterbury, Lindisfarne and Iona. Meeting old friends and making new ones along the way, this pilgrimage was a celebration of his love of life and nature.
In July 2000, Satish Kumar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education from the University of Plymouth. In July 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of Lancaster.
In November 2001, Satish Kumar was presented with the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Abroad.
His autobiography, No Destination, has sold 50,000 copies and is published by Green books. Satish’s two other books, You Are, Therefore I Am – A Declaration of Dependence and The Buddha and the Terrorist are also published by Green Books. He is currently working on his fourth book.
In 2005 Satish appeared on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 and in 2007 the BBC broadcast a documentary about his life with nature. Satish has given public lectures at many venues including L.S.E., St. Paul’s Cathedral and Davos.
At the beginning of 2009 Satish took on a new role at the College, while continuing to teach in his capacity as Visiting Fellow, he will now also oversee the Tagore Festival which will take place in 2011. The Festival will celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali writer and social reformer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and was a huge influence in shaping the vision of the Dartington Hall Trust.
To hear Satish speak: Schumacher College London Seminar, 8th March 2008
Click here to read more about how Rabindranath Tagore inspired the development of Dartington.
Email: c/o: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1803 865934
Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.