{{Short description|Scottish engineer and missionary}} {{other people||George Patterson (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox person |name = George N. Patterson |image = GeorgePatterson1950jpg.jpg |birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1920|8|19}} |birth_place = Falkirk, Scotland |death_date = 28 December 2012 (aged 92) |death_place = Auchlochan, Scotland |spouse=Meg Patterson}} '''George Neilson Patterson''' (born 19 August 1920 in Falkirk, died at Auchlochan, Lesmahagow, 28 December 2012)<ref name="Tele1">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/medicine-obituaries/9799200/George-Patterson.html |title=George Patterson |newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2013-01-13 |accessdate=2013-01-14}}</ref> also known as '''Khampa Gyau'''<ref name=":0" /> (bearded Khampa in Tibetan) and '''Patterson of Tibet''', was a Scottish engineer and missionary who served as medical officer and diplomatic representative{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} of the Tibetan resistance movement during the Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China as well as their liaison with the United States government and the Central Intelligence Agency.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halper |first=Lezlee Brown |title=Tibet: an unfinished story |last2=Halper |first2=Stefan A. |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-936836-5 |location=Oxford New York}}</ref>
He was married to the surgeon Meg Patterson.
==Early life and education== Patterson was born on 19 August 1920 in Redding, Falkirk, Scotland and grew up in Laurieston, where he was a member of the Plymouth Brethren.<ref name="Tele1"/> His father, George Neilson Patterson, was a coal miner and socialist, and Patterson had two younger siblings.<ref name="TheTimes1">{{cite news |title=George Patterson |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/india/george-patterson-f0w9wtpdpsb |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The Times |date=31 January 2013}}</ref> When he was 11 years old, he suffered a bicycle accident, and because of the head injuries he sustained, he dropped out of school two years later. Patterson entered a vocational program with Carron Company, becoming a tool setter of machine presses by the age of 17. During World War II, he was involved in weapons manufacturing, frequently working 12-hour shifts every day of the week.<ref name="TheTimes1"/><ref name="Tele1"/> As the war ended in 1945, Patterson was inspired by Sven Hedin's book ''Trans-Himalaya'' and a religious calling from God to move to Tibet. He subsequently donated all of his money away and completed a one-year program at the Missionary School of Medicine in London.<ref name="TheTimes1"/><ref name="Tele1"/>
==Letter of Remembrance== The International Campaign for Tibet awarded him their Light of Truth Award on 25 March 2011.<ref name="Brown">{{cite news|url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/Dalai-Lama-honours-Scots-hero.6737117.jp?articlepage=2|title=Dalai Lama honours Scots hero of Tibetan struggle|last=Brown|first=Craig|date=20 March 2011|work=Scotland on Sunday|accessdate=20 March 2011|location=Edinburgh|archive-date=4 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104193409/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/Dalai-Lama-honours-Scots-hero.6737117.jp?articlepage=2|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a letter presented with the award, a simple butter-lamp symbolizing the light the recipient has shed on the cause of Tibet, the Dalai Lama's Special Envoy Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari said: "It is my honour to convey to you in writing the decision of the Board of the International Campaign for Tibet to award you the Light of Truth, the highest recognition in the Tibet world of service to Tibet. The Board of Directors, chaired by Mr. Richard Gere, took the unanimous decision with great enthusiasm and, on their behalf, I offer you heartfelt congratulations. It gives me added pleasure as a Khampa to be the person to officially bring this news to you, Khampa Gyau ['bearded Khampa'], the name by which His Holiness the Dalai Lama fondly and humorously called you."<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=International Campaign for Tibet |title=Light of Truth award presented to legendary 'bearded Khampa' George Patterson |url=http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/light-truth-award-presented-legendary-'bearded-khampa'-george-patterson |accessdate=28 March 2011 |date=25 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602215121/http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/light-truth-award-presented-legendary-%E2%80%98bearded-khampa%E2%80%99-george-patterson |archivedate=2 June 2011}}</ref>
==Publications== *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1952 |title=Tibetan Journey |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=UK}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1954 |title=God's Fool |publisher=Doubleday |location=United States}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1956 |title=Up and Down Asia}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1958 |title=Tragic Destiny}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1960 |title=Tibet in Revolt}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |date=April 1963 |title=Peking Versus Delhi |publisher=Praeger |location=United States}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |date=May 1964 |title=The Unquiet Frontier |publisher=Dragonfly Paperbacks |location=United States}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1968 |title=Christianity in Communist China |publisher=Word |location=United States}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1983 |title=Christianity and Marxism |publisher=Paternoster Press |location=UK}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1990 |title=Requiem For Tibet |url=https://archive.org/details/requiemfortibet0000patt |url-access=registration |publisher=Aurum Press |location=London, UK|isbn=9781854101112 }} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1990 |title=The China Paradox - Christ Versus Marx |publisher=Word Books |location=UK}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |title=Patterson of Tibet |publisher=Promotion Publishing |location=United States}}
==Joint publications==
===with Meg Patterson=== *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1975 |title=Addictions Can Be Cured |publisher=Lion |location=UK}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1983 |title=Getting Off The Hook: Addictions can be cured by NET (neuroelectric therapy) |publisher=Harold Shaw |location=Wheaton, Illinois|isbn=978-0-87788-305-0}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1987 |title=The Power Factor |publisher=Word |location=UK}} *{{cite book |first=George Neilson |last=Patterson |year=1994 |title=The Paradise Factor |publisher=Word |location=UK}}
==Contributor== *{{cite book |title=The Chinese Problem |year=1965 |first=Werner |last=editor Klatt |publisher=OUP & HKUP}} *{{cite book |title=Asia Handbook |date=September 1966 |first=Guy |last=editor Wint |publisher=Anthony Blond; Penguin}}
==Documentaries==
===Advisor and scriptwriter=== *1964: ''Raid into Tibet'' with Adrian Cowell and Chris Menges *1970 ''Chasing the Dragon{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed for this claim|date=March 2018}}'' *1980 ''Synanon{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed for this claim|date=March 2018}}''
==See also== *Geoffrey Bull
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=17256 Article, including photograph of George Patterson on his Tibetan horse], at ExplorersWeb.com
{{Christianity in Tibet}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, George}} Category:1920 births Category:2012 deaths Category:20th-century evangelicals Category:21st-century evangelicals Category:People from Falkirk Category:20th-century Scottish medical doctors Category:Scottish Christian missionaries Category:Tibet freedom activists Category:Tibetan diplomats Category:Scottish journalists Category:Scottish explorers Category:Explorers of Tibet Category:Scottish travel writers Category:20th-century Scottish autobiographers Category:Christian medical missionaries Category:Scottish engineers Category:Scottish diplomats Category:Scottish Plymouth Brethren Category:BBC radio presenters Category:Scottish Liberal Party politicians Category:Scottish human rights activists Category:Scottish radio presenters Category:Scottish documentary filmmakers Category:Scottish editors Category:Scottish political writers Category:Scottish Evangelical writers Category:Tibet–United Kingdom relations Category:Protestant missionaries in Tibet Category:British expatriates in Tibet Category:British missionaries in China Category:British medical missionaries {{Scotland-engineer-stub}} {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub}}