Charles Meyer
Charles Meyer (12 March 1923 – 2004) was a French historian, Orientalist, teacher and unofficial diplomat who lived in Cambodia from 1957 to 1970 (out of “25 years in Indochina”, according to his laconic autobiography), was at the time the PR adviser and close counselor to King (then Prince) Norodom Sihanouk and became an outstanding portraitist of the country’s people, culture and traditions.
Charles Meyer started working in French Indochina in 1945 as a topographer with the Service géographique de l’Indochine (SGI), based in Dalat and later Saigon, traveling extensively in Vietnamese and Cambodian areas and developing an expertise on Jarai and Mnong minorities. An urbanist in Saigon from 1953 to 1955, he became a major publicist of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum era, contributing to several publications and directing the edition of the only major book published by the Sangkum, Cambodge (1962). He was particularly interested in the history of the Cambodian Royal Ballet and the art form of court dance.
Meyer left Cambodia in the aftermath of General Lon Nol’s coup (encouraged if not sponsored by the CIA). After the publication of his ambitious and controversial essay, Derrière le sourire khmer (Plon, Paris, 1971) — often referred to by historian David Chandler -, he refrained himself to comment on Cambodia, adding to the enigma of his long involvement in Cambodian affairs. His personal archive — kept in the INLIBRIS collection, Vienna, Austria — holds many documents on Cambodia-China relations in the 1960s and 1970s. He also authored La vie quotidienne des Français en Indochine, 1860 – 1960 (repr. Hachette, Paris, 1996) and Histoire de la femme chinoise, 4000 ans de pouvoir (Paris, J.C. Lattès, Paris, 1986).
Read a review of Behind Khmer Smiles by Laura Summers (Cornell University) [“Behind Khmer Smiles : Prospero’s Adventures in Cambodia”, Journal of Siam Society 61, 1973:310 – 325). In closing, the author remarked
I cannot in good conscience recommend Derrière le Sourire Khmer to the general reader. Although it is rich in anecdotal data, occasionally eloq uent in description and touching in its romance, the author’s colonial bias is all-pervasive and, as I have attempted to demonstrate, this has a decisive and alarming effect on the analysis and conclusions of his book. Though I have suggested some alternative ways of interpreting the post-independence period in Cambodia, this discussion should be regarded as a preliminary, interim analysis. It is probably too early to comprehend fully the meaning and the significance of the Sihanouk era in modern Cambodian history. In the final analysis, it is necessary to await the assessments of Cambodian scholars; if they, too, sense the in adequacies and biases of Meyer’s study, I would hope this discussion might provoke a long and informative dialogue.
A 1965 photograph of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Chinese leader Mao Zhedong, their spouses, with Chinese Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai at the far left. The author is standing on the top row, far left, the lady at his side being probably his wife. To date this is the only photographic document where Charles Meyer appears [from Charles Meyer personal archive, thanks to HE Julio Jeldres for helping identifying him].
A 1965 photograph of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Chinese leader Mao Zhedong, their spouses, with Chinese Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai at the far left. The author is standing on the top row, far left, the lady at his side being probably his wife. To date this is the only photographic document where Charles Meyer appears [from Charles Meyer personal archive, thanks to HE Julio Jeldres for helping identifying him].