Historical figure
Henri Parmentier
Henri Parmentier was a French architect and archaeologist who recorded and saved Khmer, Cham and Lao monuments for the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO).[1][2] He was among the earliest Europeans to make the archaeology of Indochina his specialty, and in 1911 he defined the pre-Angkorian style of Khmer art.[1][2]
Early life
Angkor Database and the Dictionary of Art Historians give 1870 for his birth, in Paris; a database of the French national institute of art history gives 1871.[1][3][2] He went to school at the Lycée de Reims,[3] and in 1891 he began studying architecture at the École des beaux-arts. Sent to the architecture service in Tunis, he made his start in archaeology at Dougga, where he surveyed and restored the temple of Saturn-Baal.[2]
Cham monuments
He reached Indochina in November 1900 as an architectural fellow of the new EFEO.[2] His first task was the Cham monuments, poorly known then and often taken for Khmer temples. His inventory of them appeared in two volumes, on the buildings in 1909 and on Cham art in 1918, and it won the Prix d'archéologie coloniale.[2]
In 1904 he took charge of the EFEO's archaeological department;[2] the Dictionary of Art Historians has him heading the EFEO itself.[3]
Angkor and Khmer art
He, Henri Dufour and Charles Carpeaux set up a first mission to Angkor, and the three recorded the bas-reliefs of the Bayon in full.[2] When the school started work at Angkor in 1907, Parmentier drew up a program for conserving its buildings.[2] Angkor Database credits him with 28 years as head of the EFEO in Cambodia.[1]
In 1911 his study of the temples of Sambor in Kompong Thom (កំពង់ធំ), until then thought to be Cham, led him to name a new style, pre-Angkorian.[2] He also studied the bas-reliefs of Banteay Chhmar (បន្ទាយឆ្មារ) and the temples of Wat Phu (វត្តភូ) and Wat Nokor.[2] In 1926 he worked on Banteay Srei (បន្ទាយស្រី) with Louis Finot and Victor Goloubew, and in 1932 he cleared the temple of Krol Romeas on Phnom Kulen (ភ្នំគូលែន).[2]
Later years
At retirement age he chose to stay on with the EFEO and became honorary head of its Archaeological Service. In 1933 he undertook a revision of the survey of Indochina's monuments made by Étienne Lunet de Lajonquière, but years in the field had worn down his health and he could not complete it.[2]
He made his home in Cambodia, where he wrote a book on Hindu architecture, published in 1948.[2] In 1905 he had married the novelist and journalist Jeanne Leuba, and the couple published several accounts together;[1] the Dictionary of Art Historians spells her name Jeanne Luba.[3] During the Japanese occupation his library was looted, and part of his papers was lost.[2]
References 3
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Angkor Database, Henri Parmentier (undated)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 INHA, AGORHA, Lucie Labbé, PARMENTIER Henri (March 21, 2022)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Dictionary of Art Historians, LaNitra Michele Walker, Parmentier, Henri (undated)
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