Parmentier, Henri

Date born: 1870

Place Born: Paris, France

Date died: 1949

Place died: Phnom Penh

Architect, archaeologist, and historian of Southeast Asian art. Parmentier was educated at the Lycée de Reims, and studied archaeology through the Public Works office in Tunis, where he devised a plan to rebuild an ancient Carthaginian temple. After joining the Mission Archéologique d’Indochine in 1900, Parmentier excavated monuments in Siam, Champa, and the Buddhist monastery at Dong Duong. He married poet and writer Jeanne Luba, who accompanied him on several excavations. In 1904, Parmentier became the head of the archaeological organization Ecole Francaise d’Extrême-Orient, completing research on the low reliefs of Bayon. He completed a new catalogue for the Ecole Francaise museum, and reorganized its collection in 1913. Parmentier’s largest project involved the exploration of the Khmer Empire, later becoming the Keeper of the Monuments of Angkor, Cochinchine, and Cambodia. LMW

Home Country: France

Sources: The Dictionary of Art

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