Speaker(s): Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée is a well-known researcher and translator of ancient Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, and author of numerous influential books in several languages. She is Dean of Study and Senior Lecturer in the European School of Acupuncture and a Member of the French Association of Chinese Studies (AFEC). After studying philosophy, literature and classics at the Paris University where she completed her Masters degree in Classics and Philosophy, Elisabeth met Claude Larre s.j. who was working on his PhD thesis on the Huainanzi and translating the Laozi. As a result of his influence, she began to study Chinese and work with him on Chinese classical texts. She also studied modern Chinese with a native speaker and in 1974 spent a year in Taiwan to further her studies. She holds degrees in Chinese at the Paris University. In the early 1970s she embarked on a study of Chinese medicine, together with Father Larre and Dr. Schatz, a western physician with an interest in oriental medicine and the classical medical texts, beginning the first study group of the classical medical texts in Paris which led to the foundation of the European School of Acupuncture in Paris in 1976. Elisabeth and Father Larre started to offer lectures, seminars and conferences on Chinese classical thought in France and several European countries. In the mid 1980s, Elisabeth began to accompany Father Larre on his teaching engagements in both the UK and the US. Her knowledge of the medical texts combined to Father Larre’s subtle understanding of the background culture and philosophy produced a unique teaching team. They also worked together on the Grand Ricci dictionary, completing the first publication – two volumes of single characters – in 1999. The complete work of seven volumes was finally published, under her direction, just before Father Larre’s death in December 2001. Elisabeth has continued to teach worldwide, working with both medical and philosophical Classics.

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