Showing 13 results

People & Organisations
Bhutan
Wangchuck, Pema Dechen
Person · 1918-1991

Wife of the 2nd King of Bhutan, Druk Gyalpo (King) Jigme Wangchuck. Co-Druk Gyaltsuen (queen) with her older sister, 1st consort, Ashi Phuntsho Choden.

Daughter of Chumed Zhalgno, Dasho Jamyang (of the Tamzhing Choji family – also known as the Myo family -) and Yeshay Choden, sister of the first Druk Gyalpo (King) of Bhutan, Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck.

Married in 1932, at 14 years old. Had 4 children with Druk Gyalpo Jigme Wangchuck: Druk Gyalsem(Princess) Choki Wangmo Wangchuck (b.1937), Druk Gyalsey (Prince) Namgyel Wangchuck (b. 1943), Druk Gyalsem(Princess) Deki Yangzom Wangchuck (b. 1946), Druk Gyalsem(Princess) Pema Choden Wangchuck (b. 1949)
Wangchuck, Jigme Dorji
Person · 2 May 1928 - 21 July 1972

3rd Druk Gylapo (King) of Bhutan (30 March 1952-21 July 1972)

"Father of modern Bhtuan". He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first step towards democratization.

Only child of Druk Gylapo Jigme Wangchuck and Ashi Phuntsho Choden Wangchuck.

Married in 1951 to Ashi Kesang Choden (b.1930). They had five children. He also had a concubine and four additional children.
Wangchuck, Jigme
Wangchuck, Jigme
Person · 1905-1952

Was the second Druk Gyalpo (King) of Bhutan from 26 August 1926 until his death on 30 March 1952.
Tsongpen
Person

A Lepcha plant collector for George Sherriff.

Described by Dr. JH Hicks as a 'sharp, little man.' His father and grandfather were also plant collectors for other Europeans.

During the 1949, the final, Ludlow and Sherriff expedition, he was the chief collector for Betty Sherriff & Dr. JH Hicks. He also assisted, alongside Betty Sherriff, Dr. Hicks when he was doctoring.

Also acted as an interpreter
Tess la with the late PM at Paro during Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit in 1958
Tshering Yangzom Dorji
Person · d. 27th June 2024

A Tibetan. Wife of the first Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigme Palden Dorji. As the wife of Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Tess La, had an important behind the scenes role to arrange meals and host important guests both domestic and foreign.

After her husband's assasination, she went to teach in a Tibetan school for young refugee students, and she eventually remarried.

Better known as Tess La (a nickname given to her by English nuns who were unable to pronounce her name).

She had 3 sons with her first husband: Dasho Benji Dorji, Tobgye Sonam Dorji and Kalden Wangchuk Dorji.

Tess La did not hold any official position in the Royal Government of Bhutan, but her unofficial duties and interests played an important role in Bhutanese education and diplomacy. She played an important role during the advent of modern education in Bhutan and was involved in starting Bhutan’s first agricultural cooperative to help farmers.

In the earlier days Tess La looked after a young Crown Prince Jigme Dorji Wangchuck who would go on to become His Majesty The Third King, HRH (Paro Penlop) Namgyel Wangchuck, HRH Ashi Deki Yangzom Wangchuck and many ordinary Bhutanese students who were among the first waves of Bhutanese studying in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Tess La was also part of the 3-member all women delegation sent from Bhutan headed by Ashi Tashi Chodzom Dorji to Australia in 1962 that enabled Bhutan to get a surprise entry into the Colombo Plan and here again Tess La played an important role behind the scenes. Ever the skill full host, full of charm and a good dancer, Tess La was a social hit and became popular with the international crowd already amazed by the all-women delegation from Bhutan to the Colombo plan talks.
Sonam Tobgye Dorji
Sonam Tobgye Dorji
Person · 1896-1953

2nd Gongzim of Bhutan (Prime Minister) 1917-1952.

Lived at Bhutan House, an estate in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. It served as an administrative and diplomatic hub allowing Bhutan to foster relationships with Tibet and British India.

Inherited the role of Gongzim from his father Ugyen Dorji. Was also given the role of Bhutan Agent from the British Government due to his experience he got from assisting his father on many expeditions. Also inherited the British-India's 'Raja' title. (Aris 1994: 106)

1918, he marries Rani Chuni Wangmo, the sister of the king of Sikkim. They have five children: his eldest son Jigme Palden (1919-1964) who became Prime Minister of Bhutan; the second eldest, a daughter Tashi (b.1923), who helped in the affairs of the Bhutan House; Kesang Choden (b.1930), who married the third King of Bhutan; Ugyen (1933-2006), a reincarnation of a high priest in Tibet; and Lhendup (1935-2007). His children were all born and brought up in Bhutan House and educated in the elite schools set up by the British within Darjeeling and Kalimpong. (Khandu-Om Dorji 2008:10)

Was an avid fan of football. Promoted sports by brining in outside teams and sponsoring local teams in different areas in North Bengal, introducing them to new techniques and strategies. Tobgye and Rai Saheb Bhimbahadur Pradhan levelled and increased the size of the Mela Ground where hockey and football games were played. (Khandu-Om Dorji 2008:13)
Kesang Choden Wangchuck
Person · 21 May 1930-

Married to the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (marries 5 Oct 1951). Daughter of Sonam Topgay Dorji & Mayum Choying Wangmo.

  • 1972 the Third King's health had seriously deteriorated. On 22 April 1972 Kesang Choden was formally appointed regent to act on his behalf during his illness — one of the very few women in Bhutanese history to hold such a position.

  • From 1972 her title shifted from Queen Consort to Queen Mother, in Dzongkha Gyalyum (རྒྱལ་ཡུམ). She did not remarry. During the Fourth King's long reign (1972–2006) she remained a senior figure at court but kept a deliberately low public profile compared with her four daughters-in-law — four sisters from the Yangtse-based Ngalop family who married her son in a single ceremony in 1988. Observers describe her role in this period as that of a private matriarch rather than a public figurehead, focused on religious practice, family, and the education of her grandchildren.

  • When her son Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated in December 2006 in favour of his eldest son, Kesang Choden's formal title became Gyalyum Chenmo — "Great Royal Grandmother" — though in common Bhutanese usage she is simply the Royal Grandmother.
Hicks, John Herbert
Person · 1915-1992

Accompanied G. Sherriff and F. Ludlow on their last expedition in 1949.

  • Studied medicine at Birmingham University, obtained his Fellowship in 1942

  • 1942-1946, served as a ship’s surgeon in the Merchant Navy

  • During his time as surgical registrar and resident surgical officer at Birmingham General Hospital he worked with H. H. Sampson, B. T. Rose, R. Scott Mason and J. B. Leather, and obtained the MCh (Orth) from Liverpool in 1950.

  • 1951, appointed surgeon to the Birmingham Accident Hospital

  • 1955, married Dr Sheila C. S. Meux in 1955 and they had two sons and one daughter

MRCS 1940
FRCS 1942
MB ChB 1938
MCh (Orth) 1950

“His studies of the anatomy of the foot elucidated the function of the Plantar fascia and both simplified and clarified the movements of inversion and eversion: as a result, he lectured at anatomists meetings both in this country and in France and the United States. He also showed how inversion could cause the familiar lateral rotation injury of the ankle.”

Developed what is known as a Hicks bone plate - used in many countries for internal fixation of bone fractures
Dorji, Tashi Chodzom
Person · 29 August 1923 -

sister of the Queen Grandmother and grand-aunt to the current King (as of September 2026), was born in Bhutan House in Kalimpong on 29 August 1923, the daughter of Gongzim Sonam Tobgye Dorji and Sikkim Princess Choying Wangmo Dorji.

In 1952, she was sent by the Third King, His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck to eastern Bhutan to help the people who were being harshly taxed by local rulers, empowering her to give Kidu (land) to the Zaps and Tayps (landless classes). This became known as Ashi Tashi Thram and stopped the mass exodus of Bhutanese from the east to India.

In 1962, Tashi represented her brother Jigme Palden Dorji, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, at the 14th meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Colombo Plan, held in Melbourne, Australia.

On 11 July 2018 Ashi Tashi Dorji was the first Bhutanese national to be made an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, in recognition of establishing strong ties between the two countries.