Kyibu
skyid sbug
Wangdi Norbhu
dbang 'dus nor bu
Kyipup
Born 1896 Served in Government 1918
Kyi-pup II. Personal name Wangdi Norbhu. Born about 1897. The second son of the late Kusho Kyi-pup Sonam Tobgye Kyipup, who was employed at Yatung at the time of the Younghusband Mission and afterwards as Tibetan Trade Agent, Yatung. Brother of Kyi-pup I and III. The elder manages the family estates and the younger will become a monk official. His younger sister, born about 1908, is still at home (1920). The family has estates at Gyantse, Penum, Pangkor and Chalu. Was one of the four boys sent to England for education in 1913 and received some training in map-making and irrigation engineering but without mastering either subject. The family name is really Kyipuk but the spelling Kyipup was adopted when Wangi Norbhu first left Tibet and it was used by him in writing English. Returned to Tibet in 1917 and later in the year was sent to Roorkee for further instruction in irrigation engineering but failed to make much headway. Returned to Tibet. Was sent to Kalimpong to learn telegraph signalling in the spring of 1919, finishing in November, after which he returned to Tibet. He is the least able of the four boys who were sent to England. The family name is really Kyi-puk but spelling adopted when Wangdi Norbhu first left Tibet is used by him in writing English. Was in-charge of the Lhasa telegraph office for some time. Afterwards appointed Dzong-pšn of the Ze Dzong near Chusul. Was Steward of Ze estate near Chushul. Appointed Mi-pšn (City Magistrate in Lhasa) in 1935 but was dismissed in the spring of 1942 for being too lenient. Married the second daughter of Taring Raja in 1935. Has four children. Made Officer-in-charge of the Tibetan Government estate at Huyu Lingka in Shang in the Tsang Province in 1942. Has been under instruction in wireless telegraphy at the British Mission since middle of 1944. Promoted to Le-tsenpa (5th Rank Official) in 1944. Is still undergoing training wireless telegraphy at the British Mission and also acts as a temporary official English interpreter to the Foreign office. Later appointed permanent official English interpreter to the Kashag and the Tibetan Foreign Bureau.. Visited India in March, 1947, as an interpreter to the Tibetan Delegates to the Inter-Asian Relation Conference in New Delhi. Promoted to the 4th rank in June, 1949.
Page references from Who's Who in Tibet
1920 (page 8) 1933 (page 15-16) 1938 (page 36) 1942 (page 16) 1945 (page 23-24) 1949 (page 61)
This entry is from "Who Was Who in Tibet?" Copyright Frank Drauschke, Facts & Files, Berlin
