Dolma, Pachen (c. 1933–2002)

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Dolma, Pachen (c. 1933–2002)

Tibetan nun and freedom fighter. Name variations: Ani (which means nun) Pachen Dolma. Born Pachen Dolma, c. 1933, in Gonjo in Kham, eastern Tibet; died Feb 2, 2002, in the Tibetan exile community of Dharamsala, India; only surviving child of Pomda Gonor, chieftain of the Lemdha clan.

When young, learned to ride horses and shoot guns; rebelled against an arranged marriage by fleeing on horseback to a monastery and becoming a Buddhist nun; after father died (1958), inherited the leadership of the Lemdha clan; abandoned the religious life to lead the clan in an armed resistance against the invading Chinese army; captured a year later (1959), spent 21 years in prison; released (Jan 1981), continued to fight for Tibetan independence; with the threat of rearrest, fled Tibet (1988); was encouraged to write her autobiography which resulted in Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun (2000).

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Dolma, Pachen (c. 1933–2002)

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