Michael Cremo

Who is he: Michael Cremo, also known by his pen name, Drutakarma Dasa, has written a number of books, the best known of which is Forbidden Archeology.  Cremo identifies himself as a "Vedic archeologist," is a member of the World Archeological Congress and the European Association of Archaeologists and a research associate in history and philosophy of science for the Bhaktivedanta Institute.

After receiving a scholarship to study International Affairs at George Washington University, Michael Cremo began to study the ancient histories of India known as the Vedas. In this way, Cremo has broadened his academic knowledge with spirituality from the Eastern tradition.

Later, Cremo joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and began to write for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) and Institute. The Bhaktivedanta Institute (BI) is the scientific research branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in 1976 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, it advances the study of the nature and origin of life, utilizing Vedic insights into consciousness, the self, and the origin of the universe.

With Dr. Richard L. Thompson, a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Cremo began a series of books aimed at both scholarly and popular audiences. The first to be published was Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race. This book shows that archaeologists and anthropologists, over the past 150 years, have accumulated vast amounts of evidence showing that humans have existed on this planet for tens of millions of years. Cremo and Thompson show how this evidence has been suppressed, ignored and forgotten because it contradicts generally held ideas about human evolution.

Background: Michael A. Cremo was born July 15, 1948 in Schenectady, New York. Cremo relates having always wanted to be a writer. Cremo's father served as an intelligence officer for the US Air Force, and his early life was one of periodic change and travel. Cremo went to high school at an American school in Germany and spent his vacations traveling all over Europe. Once, in the spring of 1965, in a youth hostel in Stockholm, Cremo met some young people who had been to India and back, traveling overland. Cremo became interested in India and Eastern philosophy as a result.

During his last year of high school in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cremo took a creative writing course and then entered George Washington University, after which he served in the US Navy. Gradually, Cremo became immersed in counterculture and gave up plans to enter government service. In 1968, Cremo left college and went to Europe on a voyage of self-discovery. The pull of India was strong. Cremo took a boat from Haifa to Istanbul, got as far as Tehran, lost his nerve and turned back.

After carefully studying the Bhagavad-gita, a gift of some Hare Krishna people at a Grateful Dead concert, Cremo decided he should absorb himself in the yoga of devotion to the mysterious Lord Krishna. Later, Cremo moved to Los Angeles to join the staff of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and to write for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) and Institute. To date, the books written and edited by Cremo and other BBT staff have sold more than ten million copies and have been translated into many languages.

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