His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in the village of Taktser in Amdo, in northeastern Tibet to a poor peasant family on July 6, 1935. When he was two years old he was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13^th Dalai Lama. In 1939 he was brought to Lhasa where he was later proclaimed as the head of Tibetan Buddhists. In 1959, in reaction to China's aggression, he escaped to India and established the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala.

 

Seven days after the civil upheaval against the Chinese on March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama left Lhasa. He was offered refuge in India, where he has been living in exile up until today in the small city of Dharamsala in the North of the country. In 1959 he started a campaign for the peaceful restitution of independence in Tibet, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In February of 1990, he accepted the invitation of then President Václav Havel and he visited Czechoslovakia for the first time. Since then he has visited the Czech Republic several times, mainly as a participant of the Forum 2000 Conference.