Full Name: Parmentier, Henri
Gender: male
Date Born: 1870
Date Died: 1949
Place Born: Paris, Île-de-France, France
Place Died: Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Home Country/ies: France
Subject Area(s): Angkorean, archaeology, architecture (object genre), Asian, Cambodian (culture or style), Cochin Chinese (Chinese ceramics style), sculpture (visual works), Southeast Asian, and Vietnamese (culture or style)
Overview
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.
Sources
The Dictionary of Art
Contributors: LaNitra Michele Walker