The Contribution to Tibetan and Buddhist

Studies by the Swedish/Austrian Scholar

Toni Schmid, Ph.D (1897-1972)

Urban Hammar1

In 1969 a friend, who was also studying History at Uppsala University

at the time, pointed out a small woman at the stairs of the University
Library in Uppsala. He said it was Toni Schmid, a famous specialist on
Medieval Latin and Swedish Medieval History. Years later when I had
studied Tibetology in Paris I learned about her work. Her field was Tibetan
Buddhist Iconography and she was greatly respected among specialists in
Tibetan studies worldwide and a pioneer of Tibetan Studies in Sweden. In
order to study her life and work I have researched the archives concerning
Toni Schmid in the Archives of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters,
History and Antiquities and the Archives of Toni Schmid in the Museum
of Ethnography, Stockholm. Furthermore I have conducted personal
interviews with Oloph Odenius (1923-1987), a successor of Toni Schmid
in the Medieval research project, Nils Simonsson (1920-1994), professor
of Indology, and Gudrun Hegardt (1922-2014), Addl. Curator Tibetan
Collections, Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm.
Antonie (Toni) Elisabeth Magdalena Schmid (1897-1972) was born
in Fischamend Dorf near Vienna in a family of a wealthy mill-owner.2
She was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Vienna. Later she wrote
that she came into contact with Italian farm workers in her village and
in that way had an early contact with other nationalities and languages
in the multi-national Central European Empire of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy. She began studies in History at the University of Vienna in
1917. She continued her studies in history at that University and initiated
higher studies on the subject of Swedish 17th century history.
The first time she came to Sweden was in 1921 in connection with a
program to give help to children and students from Austria and Germany
after the First World War when conditions were bad in these countries.
She went back to Vienna in 1922 and there she presented a doctoral thesis,
50 Tibet Journal

“Innere Ursachen des Niederganges Schwedens im 17. Jahrhundert,”3, at

the University of Vienna.
She was interested in learning languages and in addition German she
knew other European languages like Latin, English and French. Later she
learned Swedish, Sanskrit and Tibetan. Because she had already spent
some time in Sweden, she had some knowledge of Swedish when she
came to live there permanently. She arrived at Lund University in 1925
and initiated studies at the Department of History and learned to be a very
cautious and critical researcher concerning historical sources.

The work by Toni Schmid on Medieval books and book fragments

Toni Schmid continued her studies in Lund and became Swedish citizen
in 1927. She presented her second doctoral thesis in 1931 on the Swedish
medieval saint Sigfrid.4 After that she obtained a working position in
the National Archives in Stockholm on a project to find, retrieve and
edit fragments of medieval texts in Latin. She consequently moved to
Stockholm, and then in 1942 to Uppsala where she later acquired a house.
From 1942 until her retirement she was employed by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and working at the National
Archives of Sweden.
Her work in the National Archives consisted of searching for fragments
of Medieval Latin texts. After the Lutheran reformation in Sweden and
when king Gustav Vasa took power in 1523 Medieval Catholic books were
re-used in book covers for the Department of Finance in Sweden as these
books were not to be used anyway. All the monasteries were closed and
their possessions were confiscated by the state. Around 30,000 such book
covers have since been identified. It was a laborious work to find these
covers, then to open them to recover Latin texts, which then could be
collated. She recovered a great number of these texts. Many of these book
covers were also found in Finland.
Her work was not finished when she retired and another scholar
Dr. Oloph Odenius (1921-1987) continued her work. The project has been
essential for the knowledge of Swedish medieval church history and her
work has been internationally acknowledged. In 1934 she wrote a book
on how Christianity reached Sweden, which has become important for
later research on the subject. As a result of this research project some fifty
articles and books were published by her. Some of them in cooperation
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 51

with Oloph Odenius.5 The result of their work was the Catalogus Codicum
Mutilorum.6 In 1995 the project was activated and brought to an end by Jan
Brunius, and there are now some 23,000 book and manuscript fragments
in the Swedish National Archives as a result of the project initiated by Toni
Schmid.7
Consequently she had a full time work on this project on Swedish
Medieval history and she continued with that until her retirement. Her
work has been of fundamental importance for the study of Medieval
literary culture in Sweden and also internationally. She received an
honorific doctorate for her achievements at the Department of Theology at
Uppsala University in 1958.

Research by Toni Schmid on Tibetan Religion and Culture

Apart from her work on Swedish Medieval history Toni Schmid
developed an interest in the religion and culture of India and especially
Tibet. According to some information she studied Sanskrit already in
Wien. What is certain is that in the 1940s she studied both Sanskrit and
Tibetan with Helmer Smith (1882-1956), professor of Indology at Uppsala
University. Another of his students, and a friend of Toni Schmid, was the
late prof. Nils Simonsson (1920-1994) who wrote his doctoral thesis in
1957 on the methods of translation from Sanskrit to Tibetan in the Buddhist
Canon of the 8th century.8 He was later to become professor in Indology/
Sanskrit in Uppsala University. In this way there existed an environment
for Tibetan studies in Sweden.
In connection with these studies she came into contact with the material
brought to the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm by the Sino-Swedish
Expedition to China 1927-1935. Sven Hedin’s last expedition brought to
Sweden a number of texts, statues and other ethnographic objects from
especially Inner Mongolia. The Mongols are Buddhists of the Tibetan
tradition since a long time. Consequently a great deal of material on
Buddhism could be found there. There were also a number of Tibetan
Buddhist painted scrolls in the collection. A number of publications have
been made by different scholars on various subjects as a result of the Sino-
Swedish expedition. As Toni Schmid had studied Tibetan and was also an
expert on Christian iconography, she was offered to work with the Tibetan
Buddhist iconographical material in the collection. She published four
books and a number of articles on this material during the years 1950-
52 Tibet Journal

1965. According to some sources she actually worked with the material
from 1935. Her last article on a similar subject was published in 1972 on
two painted scrolls in Munich.9 This shows that she was pursuing these
studies well into her later years.

Travels to Asia 1955-1965 in order to collect material and study

languages10
Toni Schmid was not content with just working on the texts but started
to make journeys to Asia. From 1955 to 1965 she made five journeys to
several countries in Asia which were all financed by different foundations,
the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm and also Uppsala University
Library. Dr. Schmid took leave from her Medieval work in 1955 and
went on a ten-months trip to India and Nepal and these study-tours were
of great importance for her work on Tibetan Buddhist Iconography. She
studied the Tibetan language with native teachers and in that way learned
the language better in order to translate Tibetan texts on Buddhist thangka
paintings.
Her first journey went to India, Nepal and Sikkim in 1955/56. She
travelled with a friend, Ruth Svensson, who was a medical doctor and
well-known researcher on parasitology. She prepared for the journey by
contacting professor David Snellgrove (1920-2016), who had been in
Nepal the year before, and Dr. George Roerich (1902-1960), who at that
time was living and working in Kalimpong.
Nepal in the 1950s was a very isolated country, recently opened for
visitors. There was still no road from India to Kathmandu so travel by air
was necessary. There are letters in her archives that show details of the
conditions of travel in Nepal at that time. There was for example only one
hospital in the whole country and no roads beyond Kathmandu.
Toni Schmid stayed most of the time in Kathmandu and in Kalimpong
in the north of India near the border to Sikkim and she grew very fond
of both places In Kalimpong Alexander Macdonald (1923-2018) helped
her get a native teacher of Tibetan and she stayed for two months doing
intensive studies in Tibetan. These areas were newly opened for visitors
and she could make interesting observations. Near the stupa of Bodnath
(Baudha) outside Kathmandu she stayed for quite a long time studying
Tibetan language and making purchases for the Museum of Ethnography.
Toni Schmid obtained a copy of Kangyur from Lhasa. As there was
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 53

a shortage of printing paper in Lhasa, paper was sent from Sweden. In

January 1956 Roerich writes that the Kangyur part of the Tibetan Buddhist
canon has arrived to Kalimpong and has been sent to the Museum of
Ethnography in Stockholm where it is kept.
In a letter from her travel to India in 1959 Toni Schmid mentions that
she also ordered a copy of the Tangyur in Kathmandu from the well-
known China Lama for the Museum. George Roerich was to take care
of the Tangyur that she was trying to buy from Tibet. There exist several
letters from China Lama where he tries to explain why the Tangyur finally
was not sent. He received payment for the Tangyur from Sweden which he
later returned because the books were never delivered.
She obtained a biography of Milarepa and a copy of his “One hundred
thousand songs” in 1956. Later she worked on a translation of some of his
songs, especially the chapter on Gampopa, which was never published but
exists as a manuscript.11 She visited Gangtok and the Namgyal Institute of
Tibetology there. Later she had an article on Tibetan medicine published
in their journal.12 There exists a diary and a published book in Swedish of
her journey.13
In 1957 Toni Schmid attended the Orientalist Conference in München
and she had continued contact with leading researchers on Tibet like
Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984), Rolf Stein (1911-1999) and David Snellgrove
(1920-2016).
The second journey took place from October 1958 to April 1959
and she then went to India, Nepal and Sikkim. She tried to purchase the
Tangyur again but the order could not be realized. In the final months of
1958 refugees came from Tibet. She was told about a tragic incident in
Kalimpong. Eighteen Khampas had been trying to cross the border and
they were shot, all of them except for one.
In March 1959 there was the culmination of the rebellion in Tibet and
then followed the flight of the Dalai Lama to India. She had applied for a
visa to visit Tibet, but now the situation made that completely impossible.
She stayed again a long time in Kalimpong and Sikkim, both had become her
favorite places in Asia. She studied Tibetan language with native teachers.
In spring 1959 she also travelled to Ladakh and its capital Leh where
she attended a meeting to support the rebellion in Tibet. She was staying
in Leh when news came of Dalai Lamas escape to India in March.14 At
that time very few Westerners had visited this area and she could make
54 Tibet Journal

very interesting observations when she finally obtained a permit for a three
weeks visit. She obtained a number of texts and objects for the Museum
and for Uppsala University Library.
In 1960 she attended the world-wide Orientalist Conference in Moscow
and continued her contacts with Tibetologists around the world.
The third journey was made from October 1961 to March 1962. She
visited Burma, Cambodia, India and Nepal. One of her goals for the journey
was to participate in the World Federation of Buddhists Conference in
Pnom Penh. She wrote a book on that travel which was never published
but exists in manuscript in her archives now to be found in the National
Archives as part of the Sven Hedin collections. She travelled to Burma
and participated in a meditation course based on the methods of Mahasi
Sayadew. Then she travelled to Kalimpong and later to Gangtok where she
gave a lecture on her latest book on the incarnations of the Dalai Lamas15 at
the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. To conclude she visited Kathmandu
again and purchased more Tibetan texts for Uppsala University Library.
She noted that tourism in Nepal had already a certain impact and the city
was not as untouched as during her first visit in 1955.
The fourth journey in 1963 went principally to Bhutan. She had been
granted a one month’s visa which was very difficult to obtain. She went
to Paro in jeep on a dangerous mountain road and incidentally lost a bag
in the deep precipice beside the road. She stayed mostly in Paro where
she found a Tibetan surrounding with temples and texts to study. She
described Bhutan as a Buddhist paradise. After her visit to Bhutan she
went to North-west India and the Tibetan refugee settlements in Dehra
Dun and Mussoorie. She wrote a manuscript never published about the
situation for the Tibetan refugees.16
The fifth and last Asian journey carried out by Toni Schmid was made
in 1965 taking her to Ceylon, Hong Kong, China and India. The main
purpose of this journey was to make investigations on Tibetan Medicine in
Hong Kong where interesting texts were studied.
Then she went to Peking where she studied the Tibetan Buddhist
temple Yung-Ho-Kung. After that she had time for a visit to her favorite
place of Kalimpong, where she obtained some special thangka paintings.
She published an article “Masters of Healing” on the medical Buddhas in
the Bulletin of Tibetology in Gangtok.17 A second part of this article is to
be found in her archive but was not published in Gangtok.
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 55

Toni Schmid now had visited most of the Buddhist countries in Asia and
had a wide insight into this religion. Personally she remained a Catholic
but was open to methods of meditation in Buddhism. For the remaining
years of her life she continued to be an active researcher, but did not make
any more travels to Asia.

Toni Schmid’s research work on Tibetan Buddhist Iconography and

other aspects of Tibetan Buddhism

Her first article “The Life of Milarepa in a Picture Series”, published

in 195018, was a survey of a series of thangkas, Buddhist iconographical
painted scrolls. She presents the material, which was to be the basis of her
book on the subject two years later.
Her first book on Tibetan Buddhist Iconography, which was to become
her main subject, was “The Cotton-clad Mila. The Tibetan Poet-Saints
Life in Pictures” in 1952.19 The work is based on a series of nineteen
thangka paintings purchased in 1930 by Gösta Montell, a member of
the Sven Hedin Sino-Swedish expedition. The scrolls were kept in the
Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm and Toni Schmid received the
task of publishing a book on the collection. In the introduction she states
that the paintings have their origin in Nepal, but in the review by Tucci
he places them in north-eastern Tibet.20 Toni Schmid then provides a
comprehensive introduction to the text in which she states the similarities
between medieval saints as Francisco de Assisi and their hagiographies
and the same type of text on Milarepa.
There are mainly two sources to the life of Milarepa, his biography21
and a collection of his songs called “The Hundred thousand Songs of
Milarepa”.22 Toni Schmid used both in order to comment on the paintings.
She has made a translation of the Chapter on Gam-po-pa (124p) from
the Hundred Thousand Songs. This translation was not published but is
kept in her archives that forms part of the Sven Hedin Archives in the
National Archives. Some of the songs are published and translated in the
introduction to the book. At that time these songs were not yet translated
to any European language. The main part of the Milarepa book is a
description of the paintings and a translation of the texts in Tibetan on the
paintings. Toni Schmid then reconstructed the story which is told in the
nineteen paintings with the assistance of the material in the biography of
Milarepa and the Hundred Thousand Songs. The story normally begins
56 Tibet Journal

in the lower left corner and ends in the upper right corner. These kind
of paintings have surely been used by mani-pas or storytellers travelling
around in the villages telling the story of Milarepa. One can follow the way
the story was told by these travelling story-tellers. The original version
of this particular series of thangkas, which was purchased by the Hedin
expedition in Peking, is to be found in the Hemis monastery in Ladakh.
Following this analysis Toni Schmid makes a very useful description of
every chapter in the Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa. The book ends
with a series of enlargements of parts of the paintings where the story can
be followed in detail.
The book was reviewed by Walter Heissig, Pentti Aalto, Giuseppe
Tucci and Willem de Jong. De Jong was quite critical to a number of
her translations from Tibetan. Many of her errors, or as he writes ”his
errors”, because de Jong believed that she was a man, are based on reading
similar letters wrongly. For example “nga” and “da” are often difficult to
distinguish. It is considered a good and pioneering work by the reviewers.
It is continuously referred to by specialists on Buddhist iconography23.
In 1954 Toni Schmid published two articles in Ethnos, the scientific
journal issued by the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm. The first was
“A Tibetan Passport from 1714”24 in which she translates and analyses a
Tibetan travelling passport kept in the Museum of Ethnography. It has a
text in Tibetan and Mongolian and she has translated it from these languages.
The other was “Milch von den Sternen. Ein Beitrag zum Sternglauben in
Tibet.”25 It mainly treats the chapter on Gam-po-pa in the 100,000 songs of
Milarepa where there are allusions to the connection between stars and milk.
In 1955 she published two more articles, “Fünf und achtzig
Mahasiddhas. Vorläufige Orientierung”26 which was a preliminary study
for a forthcoming book on the subject to be released in 1958. In the article
she presents an identification of the eighty-five siddhas who are depicted
in a series of thangka paintings brought to the Museum by the Sven Hedin-
expedition 1927-35.
The other article published in Ethnos in 1955, “On the tracks
of Milarepa”27 was written during her year-long stay in Nepal and
India1955/56 and treats a cave in Northern Nepal where Milarepa should
have meditated. She travelled to Helambu (Yol-mo) in the land of the
Sherpas near Tibet, which took five days of travel and there she found the
cave where Milarepa is said to have stayed meditating.
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 57

In 1956 the book “Tantrisk mark”28 was published in Swedish. It treats

Nepal and Sikkim and has very interesting observations on Nepal. It would
have deserved to be published in English. It is a travelogue with many
scientific observations and commentaries. First on the city of Kathmandu
and especially on the religious rituals near the great stupa of Baudha
(Bodnath) at he outskirts of Kathmandu. Then she writes on the life and
rituals in the village Helambu where she trekked close to the Tibetan
border and stayed for an extended time. She describes religious rituals and
ceremonies and the devotion to different divinities.
In an article in a Swedish newspaper 1958 she holds the opinion that
the Chinese pagoda style architecture could be an influence from Nepal. It
is true that the temples in Kathmandu and Patan really look like pagodas
and probably have been constructed independently from the Chinese style
but the question of influence is more doubtful.29
The book “The Eighty-five Siddhas”30, published in 1958, was an
analysis of a series of thirteen thangkas kept in the Museum of Ethnography
in Stockholm. Toni Schmid begins with an introduction in which she
discusses the siddhas. The siddhas are masters of the Vajrayana Buddhist
tradition who have achieved complete Buddhahood and then work for
the good of mankind. She makes an interesting comparison between the
Christian saints and these siddhas. A siddha many times has acquired some
supernatural powers like flying, being invisible, reach immortality and
travel underneath the face of the earth. The series of thirteen paintings
were acquired by the Hedin-expedition 1927-35.
Normally the tradition is that there are 84 siddhas, but probably the
editor of the series is counted as the 85th of the siddhas. De Jong thinks
that the author rDo rje gdan pa should not be considered as one of the
siddhas but that his inclusion is only a way of honoring him. Consequently
the series cannot be considered to be made up by 85 but 84 siddhas as is the
tradition.31 The analysis is made in the same way as the book on Milarepa.
She translates the inscriptions on the scrolls from Tibetan to English and
comments on them. There are often problems with the translation of the
short text on the identification of the siddhas and she discusses every
siddha with the help of available literature on the subject. The inscriptions
which accompanie every painting are often difficult to understand because
of the compact style. In the end of the book she has made a translation
of a text from the commentarial part Tangyur of the Tibetan Buddhist
58 Tibet Journal

Canon which treats how the eighty-four siddhas should be depicted in the
paintings. The book was reviewed by Stein, Tucci and de Jong, mostly in
a positive way.32 De Jong is again the one who criticizes the book making
a series of corrigenda of her translations, but he considers the work to be
an important contribution to the study of the siddhas. In this review he
has understood that she is a woman.33 The book has become an important
work that is still studied by specialists. It is her most important single work
together with the book on Milarepa.
As a result of her second journey, referred to above, which in 1958/59
took her to India and Nepal, Toni Schmid wrote a book “Buddhas vägar”34
describing her experiences. The travel books that she has written in
Swedish are full of facts and scientific references.
During these years she published two articles on “Lamaismus”35 and
“Tibet I. Religionsgeschichtlich”36 in the German Encyclopaedia “Religion
in Geschichte und Gegenwart”.
The third volume in the series of books on Tibetan Buddhist
Iconography “Saviours of Mankind. Dalai Lamas and former Incarnations
of Avalokiteshvara”37 was published in 1961 and treats a set of thirteen
thangkas brought by the Hedin expedition from Peking. The thangkas are
said to have been painted under the reign of the Chinese Manchu emperor
Chien Lung. The series begins with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and
some Tibetan kings and Buddhist masters. It ends with depictions of the
first to the seventh Dalai Lamas. Toni Schmid has analysed these paintings
in the same way as in the former books in the series from the Museum of
Ethnography in Stockholm. She has translated the texts on the back of the
paintings and also analysed the details in the paintings.
Toni Schmid wrote an article, “Turning the wheel of law”,38 in Ethnos
1962 which describes a thangka showing Buddha Shakyamuni after that
he has reached the Enlightenment and turned the wheel of the law and in
that way started to teach. The article is an analysis of the painting and an
attempt to understand in what context it was painted.
Her next article “Shamanistic Practice in Northern Nepal”39 was
published in a book (1967) from the symposium on Shamanism in Åbo
1962. She had on several occasions been living and studying with Sherpas
in Nepal and in this article makes a description and analyses Shamanistic
rites among them.
The fourth and last work in the series of analysis of paintings from the
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 59

Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm was published in 1964 as “Saviours

of Mankind II. Panchen Lamas and former incarnations of Amitayus”.40
It consists of a description and analysis of a series of thangkas then in
the possession of prof. Werner Schulemann in Bonn where Toni Schmid
studied these thangkas. The series of thangkas begin with Subhuti a
supposed disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni. Eventually the Tsong kha pa
disciple Khas grub rje is presented as the first Panchen Lama in the Chinese
tradition. The first Panchen lama depicted was, according to non-Chinese
recorder, was Losang chö kyi gyal tshan (1569-1662). Then the second
and the third (1737-1780) Panchen lamas are also depicted. Toni Schmid
translates the Tibetan texts on the back of the paintings and analyses the
pictures in detail. The book also contains a text on Hedin’s meetings with
the Panchen Lama written by Gösta Montell from the museum.
In 1965 Toni Schmid wrote two articles for the Bulletin of Tibetology
published in by the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok in Sikkim.
They were named “Masters of Healing I and II”.41 The first was published
in that year but the second was never published but exist as a manuscript
in her archives in the Sven Hedin archive in the National Archive. The
articles treat a series of thangkas of medical Buddhas in the Mahayana
Buddhist tradition with accompanying text.
The very last article published by Toni Schmid was “Two Milaraspa-
Scrolls in Munich”42 in Ethnos 1972. She compares these scrolls with the
scrolls that she described in her book on the Milarepa thangkas in 1952
and reached the conclusion that they might have a common origin.

Conclusions
Toni Schmid wrote a letter in 1963 to her employer for the Medieval text
research the Academy of History, Learning and Antiquities in Stockholm.
The aim of the letter was to respond to some critics about her research on
the orientalist subjects and her travels in Asia. I quote:

A work that I have been doing for thirty years needs a complementary
activity. This different activity I have found in studies of some
oriental languages and religions which also have many points of
contact with the study of our own Middle age that I am working
with in my profession. It is not a normal “hobby”. It is a serious
and important research task which is for the benefit of the research
and for Swedish University institutions. Far from being damaging
60 Tibet Journal

for my ordinary work these oriental studies have been of great

utility. I would never have reached the results that I have reached
without these extra interests and activities. My oriental studies
should, instead of being thought of as suspicious, be encouraged.
Only in order to avoid misunderstandings I would like to state that
I have never asked for or received any remuneration for my books
in the Series of Reports from the Swedish Expedition to China and
Mongolia 1927-35.43

In a letter from her successor Oloph Odenius he also mentions another

reason for her intensified work and travel to Asia after 1955/56. He writes
that the Medieval material in the National Archives was evacuated from
Central Stockholm in connection with the political events in 1956 as the
revolution in Hungary and the Suez crisis. Consequently Toni Schmid had
more time for the oriental research.
Toni Schmid consequently had a deep and serious interest for orientalist
research. Presumably her interest for this area was awakened already
during her study years in Wien. Then many years passed before she had
an occasion to practice her interest. It was in contact with the Hedin
expedition and the orientalist environment at Uppsala University that she
studied Sanskrit and Tibetan.
She had a living interest for Buddhism and she found many points of
interest in common between her own Catholicism and the Tibetan version
of Buddhism, the Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism. For example the
Dalai Lama institution and the Papal institution. Also between the Christian
saints as Francis of Assisi and the kind of Buddhist saints represented by
Milarepa and others.
Apart from her more than fifty books and articles on her research
on medieval texts, Toni Schmid wrote eight books (two of them only
in manuscript), fourteen journal articles and twenty-one book reviews
concerning the subjects of Tibetan and Buddhist studies. She also made
a translation of a chapter on Gampopa in the 100,000 songs of Milarepa
(124 pp.) Considering her working situation carrying this out in her
spare time or when she was on leave from her work, it amounts to a
considerable production of scientific work in the area. Her scientifically
most important works are the four books in the series of “Reports from
the Hedin expedition”. There she has given an independent contribution to
research on Buddhist iconography and Tantric Buddhism. She furthermore
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 61

purchased a part of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon to Swedish institutions

and also other collections of texts and material items to the Museum of
Ethnography in Stockholm, enriching the museum’s collection in this field
substantially.
Notes
1. Former Lecturer in Tibetan at the Department of Oriental Studies
at Stockholm University. I would like to thank Haakan Wahlquist
(1946-) Sr. Curator Asian Collections in the Museum of Ethnography,
Stockholm and Keeper the Sven Hedin Foundation for all assistance
during my research for this paper.
2. In the following I will use material from the above mentioned
archives.
3. In English: “Internal Causes to the Demise of Sweden in the 17th
century.”
4. Schmid 1931.
5. Brunius 2013 and Hammar 1982.
6 Undersökningen av medeltida bokomslag. Kataloger. (Catalogus
Codicum Mutilorum). Kept in the National Archives of Sweden,
SE/RA 5152.
6. Abukhanfusa, Kerstin 2004.
7. Brunius 2013.
8. Simonsson 1957
9. Schmid 1972.
10. Much of the information on this chapter is to be found in letters to
and from Toni Schmid and from her diaries. All this material exists
in the Archives of Toni Schmid in The Sven Hedin Archives in
Swedish National Archives.
11. See her translation of the songs (124p.) in her archives.
12. Schmid 1965.
13. Schmid 1956.
14. Information to be found in her travel diary in her archives.
15. Schmid 1961.
16. The book manuscript can be found in the archive of Toni Schmid.
17. Schmid 1965.
18. Schmid 1950.
19. Schmid 1952.
20. Tucci 1953:120.
62 Tibet Journal

21. There exist several translations of the biography which was written
by one of his disciples Tsang nyon Heruka. Toni Schmid brought an
original text to the Museum.
22. Later translated by C.C. Chang in 1962.
23. Aalto 1953/54, Heissig 1954, de Jong 1955, Tucci 1953.
24. Schmid 1954 a.
25. Schmid 1954 b. “Milk from the Stars. A Contribution to Star Worship
in Tibet.”
26. Schmid 1955a. “The Eighty-five Mahasiddhas. Provisional
Orientation.”
27. Schmid 1955b.
28. Schmid 1956. ”Land of Tantrism.”
29. Dagens Nyheter 1958.
30. Schmid 1958.
31. De Jong 1960.
32. De Jong 1960, Stein 1959 and Tucci 1959.
33. De Jong 1960.
34. Schmid 1959. “The Roads of Buddha.”
35. Schmid 1960. “Lamaism.”
36. Schmid 1962b. “Tibet I. History of Religion.”
37. Schmid 1961.
38. Schmid 1962a.
39. Schmid 1967.
40. Schmid 1964.
41. Schmid 1965.
42. Schmid 1972.
43. In the Archives of the Academy of History, Learning and Antiquities
in Stockholm.

References
Aalto, Pentti 1953/54. Review of Toni Schmid, “The Cotton-clad Mila”.
In: Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen 31 (1953/54), pp. 98-100.
Abukhanfusa, Kerstin 2004.
Mutilated Books: Wondrous Leaves from Swedish bibliographical
History. Stockholm: Riksarkivet: Stockholms medeltidsmuseum, 2004.
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 63

Brunius, Jan 2000-2002. “Antonie (Toni) Elisabeth Magdalena Schmid”,

by Jan Brunius, in Svenskt biografiskt lexikon Band 31, Stockholm
2000-2002, pp.577-582.
--------.2013. From Manuscript to Wrappers. Medieval Book Fragments in
the Swedish National Archives. Skrifter utgivna av Riksarkivet 35.
2013.
Chang, Garma C.C. 1962. The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa.
Shambhala, Boulder 1962.
Hammar, Urban 1982. Toni Schmid som forskare inom tibetansk
buddhism. - Med en översiktlig biografi och ett försök till en
fullständig bibliografi.
C-uppsats vid Religionshistoriska institutionen vid Uppsala
universitet 1982. 80 p.
(An undergraduate scientific paper produced at the Department of
History of Religions at Uppsala university 1982.)
Heissig, Walter 1954.
Review of Toni Schmid “The Cotton-clad Mila.” In: Zeitschrift der
Deutschen Morgenländisches Gesellschaft 104 (1954), pp. 275-276.
De Jong. J.W. 1955. A review of Toni Schmid “The Cotton-clad Mila.”
In: T’oung Pao 43 (1955), pp. 298-301.
---------. J.W. 1960. A review of Toni Schmid “The Eighty-five Siddhas.”
In: Indo-Iranian Journal 4 (1960), pp.191-193.
Schmid 1931.
Den Helige Sigfrid I. Akademisk doktorsavhandling framlagd vid
Lunds universitet 27.5.1931, 188 p.
Simonsson, Nils 1957. Indo-Tibetische Studien. Uppsala 1957.
Stein, Rolf 1959. Review of “Toni Schmid “The Eighty-five Siddhas.” In:
Journal Asiatique (1959), pp.278-280.
Tucci, Giuseppe 1953.
Review of Toni Schmid “The Cotton-clad Mila”. In: East-West 4
(1953), pp.120-121.
Tucci, Giuseppe 1959.
Review of “The Eighty-five Siddhas.” In: East and West, n.s.10,1-2
(1959), p.111.
64 Tibet Journal

Unpublished material
A description of her work at the project of research on Medieval texts
found on book covers for the Swedish department of Finance in the
National Archives. “Undersökningen av medeltida textfragment
som bevarats som bokomslag till räkenskaper i Kammararkivet
och Riksarkivet.” It is to be found at The Royal Swedish Academy
of Letters, History and Antiquities in Stockholm.
A final Catalogue exists in the Swedish National Archives, Catalogus
Codicum Mutilorum 1997.
Schmid, Toni. An unpublished translation to English of part of the Songs of
Milarepa (fol.232-255 in the manuscript of the Songs of Milaraspa
in the collection of the Ethnographical Museum in Stockholm.)
(124 pages).
Schmid, Toni 1961. Mötet I Pnom Penh [The meeting in Pnom Penh].
(75pages). A ready for print manuscript about her travel to Asia
1961/62 for the World Federation of Buddhists Conference in
Pnom Penh.
Schmid, Toni. Masters of Healing II. (8 pages, around 1966). A complete
manuscript of an article written for the Bulletin of Tibetology
which was not published.
Unpublished material at the Archives of Toni Schmid in The Sven Hedin
Archives in the Swedish National Archives in Stockholm in the
form of letters, diaries, manuscripts and other material concerning
her research on Tibetan Buddhism consulted on several occasions
1982, 2015 and 2016.
Unpublished material on Toni Schmid in the Archives of her employer
The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
consulted in 1982.
Unpublished material in the form of letters to and from Toni Schmid in
the archives of Gösta Montell in the Museum of Ethnography in
Stockholm consulted in 2016.
Contribution to Tibetan-Buddhist Studies by Toni Schmid (1897-1972 65

A chronological bibliography of the publications of Toni Schmid

concerning Tibetan Buddhism and Culture
Schmid, Toni 1950. “The Life of Milarepa in a Picture Series.” in Ethnos
15 (1950), pp.74-94.
Schmid, Toni 1952. The Cotton-clad Mila. The Tibetan Poet-Saints Life
in Pictures.
Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western
Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin.
The Sino-Swedish Expedition. Publication 36.8. Ethnography 5.
Statens Etnografiska Museum. Stockholm 1952. p. 126, 30 plates.
Schmid, Toni 1954a. “A Tibetan Passport from 1714.” in: Contributions
to Ethnography, Linguistics and History of Religions. Reports
from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of
China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin. The Sino-Swedish
Expedition. Publication 38.8. Ethnography 6. Statens Etnografiska
Museum. Stockholm 1954, pp.57-66, 2 plates.
Schmid, Toni 1954b. “Milch von den Sternen. Ein Beitrag zum
Sternglauben in Tibet”. In: Orientalia Suecana 3 (1954), pp. 36-39.
Schmid, Toni 1955a. “Fünf-und-achtzig Mahasiddhas.” In: Ethnos 20
(1955), pp. 103-121.
Schmid, Toni 1955b. “On the Tracks of Milarepa.” in: Ethnos 20 (1955),
pp. 199-200.
Schmid, Toni 1956. Tantrisk mark. Stockholm 1956, 104 pp. 25 pl.
Schmid, Toni 1958. The Eighty-five Siddhas. Reports from the Scientific
Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China under the
Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin. The Sino-Swedish Expedition.
Publication 42.8. Ethnography 7. Statens Etnografiska Museum
1958, 171 pp. 17 plates.
Schmid, Toni 1959. Buddhas vägar. En reseberättelse från Tibets
gränstrakter. Stockholm 1959, 94 pp., 18 plates
Schmid, Toni 1960. “Lamaismus”. In: Die Religionen in Geschichte und
Gegenwart, 3.Aufl., Bd.4. Tübingen 1960, pp. 211-213.
Schmid, Toni 1961. Saviours of Mankind. Dalai Lamas and Former
Incarnations of Avalokiteshvara. Reports from the Scientific
Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China under the
Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin.
66 Tibet Journal

The Sino-Swedish Expedition. Publication 45.8. Ethnography 9.

Statens Etnografiska Museum. Stockholm 1961. p.50, plates 25
Schmid, Toni 1962a. “Turning the Wheel of the Law.” in: Ethnos 27(1962),
pp.7-13.
Schmid, Toni 1962b. Tibet I. Religionsgeschichtlich.In: Die Religion der
Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Aufl., Bd.6. Tübingen 1962, pp.
883-884.
Review of: rGyan-drug mChog-gnyis. Publ. by Namgyal Institute
of Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim 1962. In France-Asie 18, N.173
(1962), pp. 363-365.
Schmid, Toni 1964. Saviours of Mankind. Panchen Lamas and Former
Incarnations of Amitayus.
Appendix: Sven Hedin and Panchen Lama. By Gösta Montell.
Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western
Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin. The
Sino-Swedish Expedition. Publication 46.8. Ethnography 10.
Statens Etnografiska Museum. Stockholm 1964. p. 103, 10 plates.
Schmid, Toni 1965. “Masters of Healing I.” in: Bulletin of Tibetology 2.
No.3 (1965), pp. 5-10, 1 plate. Published by Namgyal Institute of
Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim.
Schmid, Toni 1967. “Shamanistic Practice in Northern Nepal.” In:
Studies in Shamanism. Based on Papers read at the Symposium on
Shamanism at Åbo on the 6th -8th of September 1962. Ed by Carl-
Martin Edsman. Stockholm 1967, pp. 82-89.
Schmid, Toni 1972. “Two Milaraspa-Scrolls in Munich.” In: Ethnos 37
(1972), pp. 97-102.