Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
Dr. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870, Kanazawa, Japan - 1966; standard transliteration: Suzuki Daisetsu, 鈴木大拙) was a famous author of books and essays on Buddhism and Zen that were instrumental in spreading interest in Zen to the West. While a student at Tokyo University, he entered spiritual studies at Engaku-ji in Kamakura under Soyen Shaku, and would be invited by him to visit the United States in the 1890s. A professor of Buddhist philosophy at Otani University in Kyoto in the mid twentieth century, he wrote some of the most celebrated introductions and overall examinations of Buddhism and particularly of its Japanese Zen school.
Suzuki's books have been widely read and commented on by many important figures. A notable example is An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, which includes a thirty page commentary by famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Other works include Zen and Japanese Culture, Studies in Zen Buddhism, and Manual of Zen Buddhism. Additionally, Willam Barrett has compiled many of Suzuki's articles and essays concerning Zen into a volume entitled Studies in Zen.
Suzuki lived in the United States and traveled through Europe before taking up his position at Otani University in 1921. Later in his life he was a visiting professor at Columbia University.
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