Jean Boisselier | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1912-08-26)26 August 1912 |
| Died | 26 February 1996(1996-02-26) (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts,École du Louvre |
| Occupations |
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| Awards | Prix de l'Académie française[1] |
Jean Boisselier (26 August 1912 – 26 February 1996) was a French archaeologist,ethnologist, and art historian. He was a specialist onKhmers and a researcher focused onBuddhist thought andiconography.[2] As a member of theÉcole française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), he was responsible for the restoration ofAngkor.[3]
Boisselier was born in Paris, son of the military illustratorHenri Boisselier [fr] and grandson of an architect. He discovered his vocation forSoutheast Asian art in front of an illustration ofAngkor Wat temple, during his visit to theExposition coloniale de Marseille [fr] in 1922. He attended theÉcole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 1924, where he followed the courses taught byPaul Bellugue [fr]. He then became a drawing teacher with the hope of joining theSchool of Cambodian Arts.[3]
At the beginning of theWorld War II, he served as areserve officer. In June 1940, he was taken prisoner by Germans. During his captivity, he kept contacts with theGuimet Museum and gave lectures of drawing and history ofKhmer art. Upon his return to France after being released in 1945, he followed the courses given byPhilippe Stern at theÉcole du Louvre, where he graduated with a dissertation on the evolution of Khmer statuary.[4]
In 1949, Boisselier travelled to Angkor to assistHenri Marchal for the conservation of Khmer monuments. He remained with Marchal only a few months, in 1950, he was appointed curator of theMuseum of Phnom Penh where he set up a programme of restoration. After being a delegate of theÉcole française d'Extrême-Orient in Cambodia in 1951, he was responsible for the scientific direction of the conservation work of Angkor in 1953. In 1955, he took part in the transfer of the management of the museum and the Buddhist Institute to the Cambodian authorities. He then left Cambodia forThailand, where he discovered some murals from largepagodas, and studied the ancient city site ofU Thong and theDvaravati period.[5]
Back in Paris, he resigned from the EFEO to join theCentre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). From 1964, he resumed specific missions in Thailand, where he gave numerous lectures at theSilpakorn University and participated in the excavations ofDambegoda inButtala Divisional Secretariat,Sri Lanka. From 1970 to 1980, he was director of the research works concerning India, Orient and Africa for theUnité d'enseignement et de recherche [fr] (UER) and the research training programme "Archaeology and Civilisations of the South and Southeast Asia" (Archéologie et civilisations de l'Asie du Sud et du Sud-Est) created at theUniversity of Paris III. He was appointedDocteur Honoris Causa of the Silpakorn University in 1983.[3]
He has published a number of works on Southeast Asian art and religion,[6] including apocket-sized book—La sagesse du Bouddha—forGallimard's "Découvertes"collection, which has been translated into 14 languages, including English.
