George Groslier (; February 4, 1887 – June 18, 1945) was a French polymath who – through his work as a painter, writer, historian, archaeologist, ethnologist, architect, photographer and curator – studied, described, popularized and worked to preserve the arts, culture and history of the Khmer Empire of Cambodia. Born in Phnom Penh to a French civil servant – he was the first French child ever born in Cambodia – Groslier was taken by his mother to France at the age of two and grew up in Marseille. Aspiring to become a painter, he tried but failed to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Cambodia, on a mission from the Ministry of Education. There he met and befriended a number of French scholars of traditional Cambodian culture. Under their influence, he wrote and published, in France in 1913, his initial book on this subject: Danseuses Cambodgiennes – Anciennes et Modernes (Cambodian Dancers – Ancient and Modern). It was the very first scholarly work ever published in any language on Cambodian dance. He then returned to Cambodia, traveling the length and breadth of the country to examine its ancient monuments and architecture. From this experience came his book A l'ombre d 'Angkor; notes et impressions sur les temples inconnus de l'ancien Cambodge (In the Shadow of Angkor: Notes and Impressions on the Unknown Temples of Ancient Cambodia). In June 1914, Groslier enlisted in the French army and was employed as a balloonist in the early part of World War I. It was during this time that he met and married sportswoman Suzanne Cecile Poujade; they eventually had three children.
He was ultimately reassigned to French Indochina because of his knowledge of the Khmer language. Upon his arrival in Phnom Penh in May 1917, he was charged with a new mission: to found a new Cambodian art museum and organize a school of Cambodian arts. From 1917 to his retirement in 1942, Groslier changed the focus of his work from that of merely describing Cambodian culture for a European audience to what he called a "rescue mission" to save the indigenous national art forms of Cambodia from destruction. His vision for the museum was to build collections from the full range of Cambodia's traditional works of art. At the art school, Groslier did not try to make the native culture adapt to that of the colonizing power; on the contrary, he insisted that the school be run by Cambodians for Cambodians and that no European influence be allowed. He was also intolerant of any attempts by Europeans to loot or damage native art. In 1923, the 22-year-old writer André Malraux, later to become world-famous, removed some bas-relief statues from a 10th Century temple, Banteay Srei, with the intention of selling them to an art museum. Although Malraux claimed that he was acting within the law, Groslier immediately had him arrested, scarring the former's reputation in Indochina. Groslier would later contemptuously refer to Malraux as "le petit voleur" ("the little thief").
Between 1920 and 1939, Groslier's family frequently traveled between France and Cambodia so that the three children could attend schools in France. In 1939, however, events leading up to the Second World War made such travel increasingly dangerous, and Suzanne was forced to remain in France with their two sons, while Nicole, their daughter, stayed with her father in Cambodia. When the Japanese military occupied Cambodia, because French colonies were then administered by the pro-Axis Vichy regime, violence was initially avoided. But in March 1945, as the Allies made further advances in Asia, the Japanese relieved French officials of their authority, rounded up all foreign nationals, and placed them under guard in concentration camps. Because of his known enthusiasm for shortwave radio, Groslier was suspected by the Japanese of being part of the anti-Japanese resistance. On June 18, 1945, in Phnom Penh, while imprisoned by the Kempeitai, Groslier died under torture. He was later officially recognized as Mort pour la France ("Died in the service of France").
All Groslier's major work was inspired by his profound love and respect for the Cambodian people and their culture. Referring to his numerous talents, literary scholar Henri Copin has written: In addition to his extensive body of scholarly writings on the art, archaeology and history of the Khmer people of Cambodia, Groslier's books include detailed travelogues as well as works of fiction – such as the novel Retour à l'Argile (Return to Clay (1928)), which won Le prix de littérature colonial (Grand Prize of Colonial Literature) in 1929 – describing his impressions of, and interactions with, Cambodians. Both institutions he founded, the National Museum of Cambodia and the Royal University of Fine Arts, are still in operation today.
Biography
Early life and education In 1885, a French couple, civil servant Antoine-Georges Groslier and his wife Angélina (née Legrand), arrived in Cambodia to serve the French Protectorate. The Protectorate was established when King Norodom of Cambodia signed a treaty with France to protect his country from incursions by neighboring Siam (present-day Thailand) and Annam (present-day Vietnam). On February 4, 1887, a son, George Groslier, was born to the couple. In 1889, his mother became pregnant with a second child, but due to the primitive medical situation in Cambodia, she was forced to travel to Saigon for the delivery. She gave birth to a daughter, who immediately died, so Angélina decided to return to her family home in France to protect two-year-old George from the harsh climate and dangers of colonial life.
Groslier began his education in Marseille and discovered his talents for writing and painting. At the age of seven, he attended the Universal Exposition in Lyon, which featured exhibits on French Indochina, including Cambodia. He grew up with an awareness of and interest in the land in which he had been born, but no great desire to return there. In 1904, at the age of 17, George published his first book, a self-published poetry collection entitled La Chanson d'un Jeune (Song of a Youth). Beginning about 1905, Groslier attended the prestigious École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, studying under classical painter Albert Maignan, who was then in his sixties. (Groslier would dedicate his first book about Cambodia to the older painter.) In 1908, Maignan supported Groslier in his bid to compete in the challenging Prix de Rome art competition. A victory in this contest would have essentially ensured a successful career, but despite advancing further in the competition than had been the case with many famous artists (e.g. Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Moreau, Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas), Groslier was eliminated at the final level, and the young painter took this as a crushing defeat. However, this setback turned out to be a fortunate one, as it created the opportunity for his future career in Cambodia.
First project in Cambodia (1910–12) In 1910, the Ministry of Public Education, whose head, Albert Sarraut, the future Prime Minister of France, would become his lifelong mentor and friend, commissioned Groslier to carry out an educational assignment in Cambodia. Upon his return to his birthplace, Groslier was soon working with prominent leaders in the field of Khmer archaeology, including Jean Commaille, Henri Parmentier and Henri Marchal. By all accounts, he was awed by his first glimpse of the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. As one scholar has said, "This vision of the grand Angkorean past was the wellspring of his love for Cambodia and its culture." Through the Angkor Society for Conservation of the Ancient Monuments of Indochina, he also met the writers Charles Gravelle and Roland Meyer, whose interest in the sacred and royal art of Cambodian dance matched his own.
Cambodian Dancers
In addition to his administrative duties, Groslier initiated a scholarly study of Cambodia's unique traditional dance arts, the first that a European had ever undertaken. (Before Groslier, few French colonial scholars even mentioned dance in their analyses of Cambodian culture.) Although he witnessed just three evening performances for King Sisowath's birthday, and three additional "supplications" in the throne room, Groslier, with the special help of Gravelle, gained access to royal dancers and teachers connected to the king's court. He assembled hundreds of original sketches, numerous paintings and detailed written information, which he brought back with him to France.
Funded by a subscription from the Minister of Colonies and the "High Patronage of His Majesty Sisowath, King of Cambodia," Groslier published Danseuses Cambodgiennes – Anciennes et Modernes (Cambodian Dancers – Ancient and Modern) in Paris in 1913. Although the first edition totaled only 30 copies, this seminal work became, in one scholar's words, "the first commentary in any language – Asian or European – on one of the world's most refined performing arts whose roots stretch to antiquity." The book's value also lies in revealing performance practices for this art form that have since vanished. Groslier, for instance, noted in his book that wires were used to suspend some performers in mid-air during one of the performances he witnessed, which no longer occurs in Cambodian traditional dance performances today.
Second Project in Cambodia (1913–14) Sarraut, the Minister of Public Education (and soon to be Governor General of Indochina), was so satisfied with Groslier's work that he issued him a new title: Chargé de Mission au Cambodge par le Ministère de l'Instruction publique et des Beaux-arts (Project Manager in Cambodia for the Minister of Public Education and Fine Arts). On April 1, 1913, George returned to Cambodia with new assignments.
Over the remainder of 1913, he traveled the length and breadth of the country documenting the most remote Khmer monuments and recording his impressions and adventures. Groslier traveled on his own, isolated in remote jungles, rivers and mountains in primitive and demanding conditions, assisted only by native helpers. Some of the Khmer temples he documented included Wat Phu, Preah Vihear (to which he had to hike 50 kilometers on foot), Beng Mealea, Lolei, Bakong and Banteay Chhmar, as well as temples of the Angkor group, including Ta Prohm.
In the Shadow of Angkor He published his experiences in his second book, A l'ombre d 'Angkor; notes et impressions sur les temples inconnus de l'ancien Cambodge (In the Shadow of Angkor: Notes and Impressions on the Unknown Temples of Ancient Cambodia), penning lively accounts that blended his subjective impressions with objective details. As Maxime Prodromidès observes, what set George Groslier apart from other authors was his close contact with the Khmer people, with his passion split between the art and life of the country: Publication of the book was, however, delayed until 1916 due to the outbreak of the First World War.
World War I service In June 1914, Groslier returned to France to enlist in the French army; the war began only weeks later. In 1915, Groslier was assigned to serve as a balloonist at Versailles Aerostation. Observation balloons were vital to the war effort as a means of aerial reconnaissance, and as these vehicles, for that reason, were favored targets for enemy fire, it was dangerous work. The French media at that time were encouraging French women to become pen pals with soldiers as a way of boosting morale. A relationship developed between Groslier and a pen pal named Suzanne Cecile Poujade, resulting in their marriage in Paris on May 27, 1916. (During this brief break from service, he arranged the publication of his second book on Cambodia.)