Between her nonstop schedule of studying, lecturing, and entertaining his colleagues, Alexandra became increasingly ill. But their decades of correspondence reveal two strong people who loved-but couldn’t live with-each other.Īlexandra and Philippe remained in a tumultuous relationship for seven years. Her biographers call it a marriage of convenience. Until recently, my daughter has always expressed a firm reluctance to give up her freedom…”Īt age 36, Alexandra David-Néel knew what she was getting into. He replied: “Mister Néel, I am extremely surprised by your letter.
He wasted no time inviting Alexandra to sail on his yacht.īefore long, old Louis David received a charming letter from Phillippe asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage. She caught the attention of Philippe Néel, director of the French railroad in North Africa and a notorious playboy. The clientele was mostly male-and mostly rich. She hired string quartets and spent evenings at the piano entertaining guests. A local casino owner offered her a job as their musical director. Upon graduation, Alexandra secured a position with the Opera Company of Hanoi and returned to the East she loved. Three years later she won first prize in soprano and launched an eight-year career as an opera singer. She decided on music, one of the few careers open to women.Īt 25, she enrolled in Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Her parents couldn’t support her, due to (ironically) her father’s bad investments. In the 1890s, however, Alexandra David-Néel’s conversion and yoga practice were jaw-dropping.Īlexandra returned home broke a year later. Today, if you met a French Buddhist yogini at a party, you might be curious but not amazed. She also learned yoga from a famous swami. Her father begged her to let him invest. Instead, she sailed to India, roomed at a Theosophy Center near Madras, and continued her Sanskrit studies. She began studying Eastern sacred texts and dabbling in Theosophy.Īfter graduation, Alexandra audited Sanskrit and Eastern philosophy classes at the Sorbonne.Īt age 23, she received a small inheritance from her godmother. There, one particular golden Buddha inspired the aha! moment that brought her to Buddhism. Instead, she took field trips to the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts. She wasn’t required to attend daily mass or learn Protestant doctrine. This choice gave her a superb education and religious freedom. At age 13, Alexandra enrolled as a Protestant in a Catholic convent school. Her father Louis, at least, doted on her, so she adopted his faith. Not surprisingly, Alexandra dropped her mother’s name (Alexandrine) in her teens.
Alexandra the tavlin series#
She abandoned Alexandra to a series of governesses and returned to her supplications. While pregnant, her mother read the Last of the Mohicans and prayed for a boy-child who would grow up to be bishop. Her father was a Protestant anarchist and her mother a devout Catholic. The conflict between Alexandra’s parents may explain that early need to escape. Ever since I was five years old, a tiny precocious child of Paris, I wished to move out of the narrow limits in which, like all children of my age, I was then kept.
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