Ven. Nyanatiloka Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera was the first Continental European in modern times to become a Buddhist monk and one of the foremost Western exponents of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century.

He was born in Germany, he developed a keen interest in Buddhism in his youth and came to Asia intending to enter the Buddhist Order. He received ordination in Burma in 1903. The greatest part of his life as a monk was spent in Sri Lanka, where he established the Island Hermitage at Dodanduwa as a monastery for Western monks.

His translations into German include the Anguttara Nikaya, the Visuddhimagga, and the Milindapañha.

Ven. Nyanatiloka passed away in Colombo in 1957.