Jean Commaille

Sent to South East Asia as an enlisted private in the Foreign Legion (‘Légion Étrangere’), Jean Narcisse Commaille (24 June 1868, Marseilles — 30 Apr. 1916, Siem Reap) became the First Conservateur (Curator) of Angkor Wat in July 1908 after joining the EFEO as a mere civil servant eight years earlier. 

A pioneer in Angkor Wat, Bayon, the Royal Terraces, Preah Pithu and Baphuon, Prasat Suor Prat excavations — often with logistical help from Lunet de la Jonquiere –, Commaille was murdered by thieves on a dirt track while carrying his workers’ payroll, on April 29, 1916. His tomb is still located near the Bayon.

In love with the Khmer ruins, leading a humble life close to the archeological sites, Jean Commaille left many administrative and scientific reports, as well as a vast collection of his own paintings, watercolors and sketches.

Married in Hanoï in 1904 with Henriette Julie Loustalet (22 Feb. 1882, Bidarray — 4 Aug. 1970, Pau, France), his almost-ascetic life amongst Khmer ruins did not agree with the then young Henriette (22 years old), who decided to travel back to France — after her piano fell through the vetust hardwood floor of their house near the Bayon, according to some urban legend –, and remarried in 1920 in Marseilles.

The Face Towers, watercolor by Jean Commaille

Commailles humble house in Angkor, with then-wife Henriette on the doorstep (Archives EFEO)

Commaille ​“in his working outfit”, c. 1914 (photo F. Gas-Faucher)