VEN THUBTEN WANGCHEN was born on 25^th December 1954 in Kyirong, Tibet, and fled to India in 1959. He attended Central School for Tibetan, Dalhousie with the blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and kind help of the Central Tibetan Administration, and the Indian government. At the age of 16, he joined the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamshala, where he studied Buddhist philosophy and its rituals, ceremonies, sacred dances, Mandalas, etc. for 11 years. In 1982, he moved to Spain as a translator for a Buddhist center called FPMT and he was the first-ever Tibetan to reside permanently in Spain.

He has established a Cultural Center called ‘Tibet House Foundation’ in Barcelona, Spain to enhance the dissemination and advocacy of Tibetan Culture, Human Rights, cooperation, and solidarity with the Tibetan people in exile, which was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1994. He was earlier elected to the 15^th and 16^th TPiE. Ven. Wangchen is currently a member of the 17^th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from Europe and Africa.