Robert Thurman, the renowned scholar and father of “Kill Bill” star Uma Thurman, has passed away at 84.
The Tibetan Buddhist monk reportedly died Tuesday morning, June 16, in Woodstock, New York. His passing was announced on social media by Tibet House US, the cultural center he co-founded in 1987.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that Robert A.F. Thurman @bob__thurman, prominent American Buddhist scholar, co-founder of Tibet House US, author and translator whose teachings shaped countless lives, died Tuesday morning, June 16, in Woodstock, New York,” the statement read. “Om Mani Padme Hum (the jewel in the lotus). The Thurman family requests privacy at this time.”
Who Is Uma Thurman’s Father, Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman was born in New York in 1941. At the age of 20, he suffered a grisly accident while changing a tire, leaving him with a glass eye.
Following his divorce from his heiress wife Marie-Christophe de Menil, Robert traveled across Turkey, Iran, and India, eventually finding his calling in Tibetan Buddhism.
Robert converted to Buddhism in 1965 and became a student of the 14th Dalai Lama, who was then living in exile in India after escaping Tibet in the wake of Mao Zedong’s crackdown on the region.
In 1967, Robert married German-Swedish model and psychotherapist Nena von Schlebrügge, with whom he welcomed four children, including Uma Thurman.
Robert’s faith shaped Uma’s early life, including a two-year period she spent in Almora, a Himalayan town in northern India near Tibet that was popular among Western Buddhists.
‘There’s been a lot written about my upbringing, making it sound as if it were some hippie-dippy childhood, but that’s totally absurd,’ Uma told the Irish Examiner in 2005.
She continued, “There’s an assumption that because someone is a Buddhist, they are a leftie loose cannon, unusually weird, and that’s complete baloney! I was brought up in academic housing, I went to school, and my father was a professor. It was all extremely normal.”
Robert served as the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University for 30 years until 2020.
He was also named by The New York Times as the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism, and was chosen by TIME as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.
An Outpouring of Love & Support
GettyMany took to the comments to express their condolences and show their love for Robert Thurman.
Someone wrote, “This is deeply saddening news to all of us in the Tibetan community. Bob was a genuine friend of the Tibetan people and a peerless champion of our cause, through thick and thin.”
Another commented, “Deepest condolences to the Thurman family and Tibet House dharma community. Thank you Tenzin Bob!”
A commenter chimed in, “What a great loss. A renowned scholar, mentor, teacher… but more than that, a true friend and ally to the Tibetan people and our fight for freedom.”
Someone added, “Deep DEEP BOW of gratitude to Robert Thurman. His contributions are innumerable. May his time moving through this bardo bear multitudes of rainbows and manifold blessings for him on his way. “
