Art News

Utah Native, Tibetan Book Collector Smith Dies

NEW YORK (AP).- Ellis Gene Smith, the son of a Mormon family from Ogden, Utah, who is believed to have compiled the largest collection of Tibetan books outside of Tibet, has died in New York at age 74. The New York Times reports that Smith died Dec. 16 at his Manhattan home. The cause of death was not released. But Jeff Wallman, executive director of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center in New York, said Smith had had diabetes and heart trouble in recent years. Smith and a small group of friends founded the center in 1999. It holds nearly 25,000 books dating from the 12th century, including many of the seminal texts of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as secular works on a range of topics. Smith was a scholar who became so interested in Tibetan culture that he converted to Buddhism as a young man and began acquiring the books. He was known for his vast knowledge of Tibetan literature