Nawraj at 05:23, 25 March 2026

2026-03-25T05:23:38Z

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{{Short description|South Asian scholar (1889–1967)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Helen Moore Johnson
| image = HelenMooreJohnson1907.png
| alt = A young white woman with dark hair, wearing academic cap and gown
| caption = Helen Moore Johnson, from the 1907 yearbook of the University of Missouri
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = October 14, 1889
| birth_place = Osceola, Missouri, U.S.
| death_date = June 26, 1967
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[University of Missouri]] <br/>[[University of Wisconsin]] (PhD)
| occupation =
| education =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = English translation of the ''Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Charita''
| relatives = [[Waldo P. Johnson]] (grandfather)<br>
[[William Tell Johnson]] (uncle)
}}

'''Helen Moore Johnson''' (October 14, 1889 – June 26, 1967) was an American [[Sanskrit]] scholar and classics professor. She was named a [[Guggenheim Fellowship|Guggenheim Fellow]] in 1927, appointed for research in [[Jainism]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Helen Moore Johnson |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/helen-moore-johnson/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214225227/https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/helen-moore-johnson/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her work includes the English translation of the [[Hagiography|hagiographical]] work ''Trishashti Shalaka Purusha'' in six volumes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=nindi punj |url=http://archive.org/details/TrisasasitaLakaraPurusaCharitraHelenJohnsonM.Vol1UniversityOfBaroda |title=Trisasasita Lakara Purusa Charitra Helen Johnson M. Vol 1 University Of Baroda |language=English}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Johnson was born in [[Osceola, Missouri]], the daughter of Thomas Moore Johnson and Alice Barr Johnson.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=July 8, 1948 |title=Waldo P. Johnson's Mother Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-clinton-eye-waldo-p-johnsons-mothe/158101332/ |work=The Clinton Eye |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her father was a lawyer, translator, and publisher, interested in [[theosophy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Moore Johnson Collection of Philosophy |url=https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/collections/show/6 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=University of Missouri Libraries, Special Collections and Archives |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727032636/https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/collections/show/6 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her grandfather, [[Waldo P. Johnson]], was a [[List of Confederate States senators|Confederate States Senator]]; one of her uncles was another Missouri politician, [[William Tell Johnson]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=November 3, 1960 |title=Services Held Saturday for Ralph P. Johnson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-clair-county-courier-services-held-s/158101933/ |work=St. Clair County Courier |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at the [[University of Missouri]], in 1907 and 1908 respectively. She pursued further studies at [[Tulane University]] and [[Bryn Mawr College]], and completed doctoral studies at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]] in 1912.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Karthunen |first=Klaus |date=2017-02-14 |title=Persons of Indian Studies: Helen M. Johnson |url=https://whowaswho-indology.info/2828/johnson-helen-moore/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241103200640/https://whowaswho-indology.info/2828/johnson-helen-moore/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Career ==

Johnson was a professor at the [[University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma|Oklahoma College for Women]] from 1913 to 1916. She taught Latin and Greek at the Oxford College for Women in Ohio, in 1919 and 1920. She held the [[American Association of University Women|AAUW]]'s Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial fellowship to study in India from 1920 to 1921.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 10, 1936 |title=A.A.U.W. Awards are Classified |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/columbia-missourian-a-a-u-w-awards-a/158058546/ |work=Columbia Missourian |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was based at Johns Hopkins University from 1924 to 1926. In 1927, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her research on Jainism.<ref name=":0" /> In the late 1940s and the early 1960s, she spent more years studying in [[Vadodara|Baroda, India]].<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":2" />

== Publications ==
Johnson published an English translation of the [[Hagiography|hagiographical]] work ''Trishashti Shalaka Purusha'' in six volumes.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1931 |title=Osceola Woman is Publisher of Works on Ancient Religion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-clair-county-courier-osceola-woman-i/158119068/ |work=St. Clair County Courier |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her worked appeared in scholarly journals, including ''The Classical Weekly'',<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1919 |title=The Portrayal of the Dog on Greek Vases |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4387846 |journal=The Classical Weekly |volume=12 |issue=27 |pages=209–213 |doi=10.2307/4387846 |jstor=4387846 |issn=1940-641X |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2023-11-02 |access-date=2024-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102064239/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4387846 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Journal of the American Oriental Society''<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1946 |title=The Udayana-Vāsavadattā Romance in Hemacandra |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/596408 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=295–298 |doi=10.2307/596408 |jstor=596408 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1924 |title=The Story of the Thief Rāuhiṇeya in the Mahāvīracaritra of Hemacandra |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/593531 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=44 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.2307/593531 |jstor=593531 |issn=0003-0279 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2020-07-31 |access-date=2024-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731094021/https://www.jstor.org/stable/593531 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''[[American Journal of Philology]]''.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1926 |title=A New Account of the Relations between Mahāvīra and Gośāla |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/289849 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=74–82 |doi=10.2307/289849 |jstor=289849 |issn=0002-9475 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2019-03-31 |access-date=2024-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331044159/https://www.jstor.org/stable/289849 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* "The Portrayal of the Dog on Greek Vases" (1919)<ref name=":3" />
* "The Story of the Thief Rāuhiṇeya in the Mahāvīracaritra of Hemacandra" (1924)<ref name=":5" />
* "Historical References in Hemacandra's Mahāvīracaritra" (1925)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1925 |title=Historical References in Hemacandra's Mahāvīracaritra |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/593508 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=45 |pages=301–310 |doi=10.2307/593508 |jstor=593508 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "A New Account of the Relations between Mahāvīra and Gośāla" (1926)<ref name=":6" />
* "The Lemon in India" (1936)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1936 |title=The Lemon in India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/593881 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=47–50 |doi=10.2307/593881 |jstor=593881 |issn=0003-0279 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2023-12-01 |access-date=2024-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201094111/https://www.jstor.org/stable/593881 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* "Conversion of Vikrama Saṃvat Dates" (1938)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1938 |title=Conversion of Vikrama Saṃvat Dates |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/594378 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=668–669 |doi=10.2307/594378 |jstor=594378 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "The Date of [[Diwali|Divālī]]" (1939)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1939 |title=The Date of Divālī |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/594485 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=506–508 |doi=10.2307/594485 |jstor=594485 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "Grains of Mediaeval India" (1941)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1941 |title=Grains of Mediaeval India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/594502 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=167–171 |doi=10.2307/594502 |jstor=594502 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "Tamāla and vetra" (1944)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1944 |title=Tamāla and vetra |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/594685 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=224 |doi=10.2307/594685 |jstor=594685 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "The Udayana-Vāsavadattā Romance in Hemacandra" (1946)<ref name=":4" />
* "Gama and Cara" (1946)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1946 |title=Gama and Cara |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/595572 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=260–261 |doi=10.2307/595572 |jstor=595572 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "Rohinī-Aśokacandrakathā" (1948)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1948 |title=Rohinī-Aśokacandrakathā |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/595940 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=168–175 |doi=10.2307/595940 |jstor=595940 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* "Śāntamūrti Munirāj Śrī Jayantavijayaji" (1949)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Helen M. |date=1949 |title=Śāntamūrti Munirāj Śrī Jayantavijayaji |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/596255 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=262 |jstor=596255 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Johnson was injured in a car accident in 1939.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1940 |title=County & Vicinity |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-higginsville-jeffersonian-county-and/158118472/ |work=The Higginsville Jeffersonian |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1940 |title=Dropped damage suit against Mrs. Carolyn B. Cockefair |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-herald-dropped-damage-suit/158118699/ |work=The Standard-Herald |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She died in 1967, at the age of 77.<ref name=":2" />

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Helen Moore}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Missouri alumni]]
[[Category:Classics educators]]
[[Category:American philologists]]
[[Category:Indologists]]
[[Category:People from Osceola, Missouri]]
[[Category:20th-century American translators]]

Helen Moore Johnson - Revision history

Nawraj at 05:23, 25 March 2026