A life dedicated to the digital preservation of ancient languages and cultures has come to an end with the passing of Andy West, a remarkable individual who left an indelible mark on the world of Unicode and digital encoding. Born in Dunfermline, Andy's journey began as a naval officer's son, but his true passion lay in the realm of language and history. Despite an initial career in geology, he discovered his calling in the digital realm, where he became a master of encoding ancient scripts, including Tibetan, Tangut, and Khitan.
West's academic journey was a testament to his versatility. He taught himself classical Chinese, driven by his frustration with the slow release of the 1970s Penguin Classics translation of 'The Story of the Stone'. This passion led him to pursue a degree in Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, followed by a PhD in classical Chinese literature at Princeton. His expertise in textual history, particularly of the Ming Dynasty novel 'The Romance of the Three Kingdoms', was hailed as a 'stroke of genius' by his advisor.
Andy's interests extended beyond academia. He was a prolific language learner, comparing language acquisition to coding. His dedication to digital preservation was evident in his work on the Unicode standard, ensuring that scripts like Tibetan and Tangut would not be lost to time. His influence also extended to the digital realm of emojis, as he contributed to the creation of the dodo and mammoth emojis.
West's personal life was as colorful as his professional endeavors. He met his wife, Wei-Wei, a lecturer in international trade, in Guangzhou and proposed marriage just three days later. They had two daughters, Amber and April, and a close-knit family. Andy's passing at 65 leaves a void in the world of digital encoding, but his legacy will continue to shape the way we preserve and understand ancient cultures and languages.
