Henri Marchal

Who was Henri Marchal?

Henri Marchal was a French architect and civil servant. He devoted a great part of his life to research on the art and archeology of Cambodia and the conservation and restoration of Khmer monuments at the archeological site of Angkor, in Cambodia.

Marchal was born in Paris. After his baccalauréat in 1895, he was admitted to the École des beaux-arts, section of Architecture, where he attended the workshop led by Gaston Redon.

He was appointed Inspector of civilian buildings of Cambodia in 1905. In 1910 he gained the Khmer language license and was appointed assistant curator of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient Museum in Phnom Penh. In 1912 he was dispatched to Saigon, as Inspector of civilian buildings of Cochinchina.

Following the death of Jean Commaille, in 1916 he was dispatched to Angkor to manage Conservation d'Angkor by EFEO. He resumed the cleaning works on Angkor Wat and the excavation of main monuments in central Angkor Thom: Baphuon, the Bayon, Phimeanakas, Preah Pithu, the Royal Palace ecc..

In 1919 Henri Marchal was appointed permanent member of EFEO and "Curator of Angkor".