Henri Parmentier

Henri Parmentier (3 Jan.1870, Paris -22 Feb. 1949, Phnom Penh) was a French architect, art historian and archaeologist, one of the first European specialists in the archaeology of Indochina. He has documented, depicted and preserved many Khmer, Cham and Lao monuments.

Head of the EFEO in Cambodia during 28 years, he married in 1905 novelist and journalist Jeanne Leuba, with whom he co-published several accounts. The couple endured the Japanese occupation of Cambodia with the rest of the small Phnom Penh French colony during World War II. He died in Phnom Penh, still actively contributing to Khmer, Cham and Laotian studies after his official retirement in 1962.

Henri Parmentier, circa 1930 (EFEO Archives, reprinted in W640)