Visiting Pierre Paul Amiel in Nice @ HereNow4U

CfJS Library extended by a donation of books on Jainism - A travel report about the shipping of a Jainological library from Nice to Berlin

In 2011 Pierre Paul Amiel wished to support the establishment of a library for the Center for Jaina Studies by the donation of his collection of books on Jain religion and culture. Hence, Carola Thinius and myself started on 2nd of April, 2012 to a Journey to Nice/France, where Pierre Amiel lives, to organize the shipping of this great donation to Berlin.

Pierre Amiel is a renowned expert in Jainism wrote several books and papers on Jain religion. Some of his works in chronological order:

2003 Les Jains aujourd’hui dans le monde (an English translation was published in 2008 by Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, Varanasi)
2008 b.a.-b.a. Jaïnisme
2009 Le Tattvārtha Sūtra Le Samayasāra Le Niyamasāra
2011 Les Legs de Mahâvîra

In addition to his professional activity as a lawyer and chief executive in local government administration, he became a famous researcher on Jainism who published and translated numerous books to spread the knowledge of Jainism in France and other European countries.

For these researches and his own interest in Jainism and related topics he collected hundreds of books. During his work as a researcher and translator, a large amount of notes and thoughts have been brought to paper, but not into printing. In April 2012 he gave about 500 books and the bound fruits of his own researches for the benefits of the Center for Jaina Studies in Berlin.

To transport the books to Berlin it was necessary to go to Nice by car. In total 3000 km of land had to be crossed on streets leading from the flatlands of northern Germany to the first station of the journey in the beautiful franconian city of Würzburg, then further trough tunnels and the San Bernardino Pass in Switzerland, through the Po Valley in Italy passing Milano, Genoa and finally Monaco to Nice, where we met Pierre Amiel in person and experienced his hospitality.

After hours of travelling he welcomed us with a smile, good mood and a refreshing vegetarian meal which we had listening to symphonies of Bruckner. During our stay it turned out Pierre Amiel is not only familiar with Jainism, he is also a lover of classical music and a very entertaining host too. We had a very good time with Pierre Amiel but after three days, when all the books had been put into the car and Nice had been explored by us, we had to say good-bye and returned to Berlin.

The Center for Jaina Studies had already been waiting for the books which will be, in addition to an earlier donation of books by Prof. Hampana from Bangalore, the foundation of its library and a great help for research and everyone interested in Jainism and related topics. So Carola and myself want to express our gratefulness to Pierre Amiel, not only for the support of Jaina studies in Berlin, but also for his hospitality which made us have a very good time. He hosted us in such a nice way that we will never forget our stay in Nice. Thank you Pierre, for everything.