George Cœdès (; 10 August 1886 – 2 October 1969) was a 20th-century French scholar of

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

and history.

Biography

Cœdès was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to a family of supposed Hungarian-

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

émigrés. In fact, the family was known as having settled in the region of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

before 1740. His ancestors worked for the royal Treasury. His grandfather, Louis Eugène Cœdès was a painter, pupil of Léon Coignet. His father Hippolyte worked as a banker. Cœdès became director of the National Library of Thailand in 1918, and in 1929 became director of L'École française d'Extrême-Orient, where he remained until 1946. Thereafter he lived in

until he died in 1969. In 1935 he married Neang Yao. He was also an editor of the '' Journal of the Siam Society'' during the 1920s. He wrote two texts in the field, ''The Indianized States of Southeast Asia'' (1968, 1975) (first published in 1948 as ''Les états hindouisés d'Indochine et d'Indonésie'') and ''The Making of South East Asia'' (1966), as well as innumerable articles, in which he developed the concept of the Indianized kingdom. Perhaps his greatest lasting scholarly accomplishment was his work on

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and Old Khmer inscriptions from

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

. In addition to scores of articles (especially in the ''Bulletin'' of the

École française d'Extrême-Orient The French School of the Far East (french: École française d'Extrême-Orient, ), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in w ...

), his 8-volume work ''Inscriptions du Cambodge'' (1937-1966) contains editions and translations of over a thousand inscriptions from pre-Angkorian and Angkor-era monuments, and stands as Cœdès' ''magnum opus''. One stele, the recently rediscovered K-127, contains an inscription of what has been dubbed the "Khmer Zero", the first known use of zero in the modern number system. The transliteration system that he devised for Thai (and Khmer) is used by specialists of Thai and other writing systems derived from that of Khmer. George Cœdès is credited with rediscovering the former kingdom of Srivijaya, centred on the modern-day Indonesian city of

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

, but with influence extending from

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

through to the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

Decorations

Cœdès received the following decorations: * 1919 – Commander (Third Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, a royal decoration in the

Honours System An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sashe ...

of ThailandThe Royal Gazette, Vol. 46, Page 3425.
29 December, B.E 2472 ( C.E. 1929). Retrieved on 20 November 2008. * 1926 – Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France).

Works

* ''Textes d'auteurs grecs et latins relatifs à l'Extrême-Orient depuis le IV siècle av. J.-C. jusqu'au XIV siècle'', 1910 * ''Études cambodgiennes'', 1911–1956 * ''Le Royaume de Çrīvijaya'', 1918 * "Some Problems in the Ancient History of the Hinduized States of South-East Asia", ''Journal of Southeast Asian History'', Vol.5, No.2, pp. 1–14 * "À propos de l'origine des chiffres arabes", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London'', Vol.6, No.2, pp. 323–328 * "La Stèle de Ta-Prohm", ''Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient (BEFEO)'', Hanoi, VI, 1906, pp. 44–81
"The Origins of the Sukhodaya Dynasty"
''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 14.1, 1921 * ''Listes generales des inscriptions et des monuments du Champa et du Cambodge,'' Hanoi, Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, 1923 * ''The Vajiranana National Library of Siam'', Bangkok, Council of the National Library, 1924 * ''Documents sur l'histoire politique et religieuse du Laos occidental'', 1925 * "Une exposition de sculptures Khmères et Siamoises au Musée Cernuschi", ''Artibus Asiae'', Vol.1, No.3 (1926), pp. 190–202 * "À propos de la chute du royaume de Çrīvijaya". ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië'', Deel 83, 2de/3de Afl. (1927), pp. 459–472
"The excavations at Pong Tuk and their importance for the ancient history of Siam"
''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol.21, part 3, Mar. 1928, pp. 195–209 * "Études cambodgiennes: XXXI. Nouvelles notes sur tcheou ta-kouan", ''Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient (BEFEO)'', II, pp. 148–151
"Les inscriptions malaises de Çrīvijaya"
''Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient'', 30 (1930), pp. 29–80. * "Pa-sseu-wei", ''T'oung Pao'', Second Series, Vol. 30, No. 3/5 (1933), pp. 224–230 * ''Un grand roi du Cambodge: Jayavarman VII,'' Phnom Penh, Editions de la Bibliothèque Royale, 1935 * "L'origine du cycle des douze animaux au Cambodge", ''T'oung Pao'', Second Series, Vol.31, Livr.3/5 (1935), pp. 315–329 * ''Inscriptions du Cambodge'', Hanoi, Imp. d'Extreme-Orient, 1937–1966 * ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', 1943 * ''Les stèles de Sdok Kok Thom, Phnom Sandak et Prah Vihar'', 1943–1946 * ''Histoire ancienne des États hindouisés d'Extrême-Orient'', Hanoi, Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, 1944 * "Fouilles en Cochinchine: Le Site de Go Oc Eo, Ancien Port du Royaume de Fou-nan", ''Artibus Asiae'', Vol.10, No.3 (1947), pp. 193–199 * ''Les états hindouisés d'Indochine et d'Indonésie'', 1948 * "Un yantra recemment decouvert a Angkor", ''Journal asiatique'', Année 1952, p. 65��477. * "Une Roue de la Loi avec inscription en Pāli provenant du Site de P'ră Păthŏm", ''Artibus Asiae'', Vol.19, No.3/4 (1956), pp. 221–226 * "The Traibhūmikathā Buddhist Cosmology and Treaty on Ethics", ''East and West'', Vol.7, No.4 (January 1957), pp. 349–352 * "Note sur une stele indienne d'epoque Pāla decouverte a Ayudhyā (Siam)", ''Artibus Asiae'', Vol.22, No.1/2 (1959), pp. 9–14 * "Les Môns de Dvāravatī", ''Artibus Asiae. Supplementum'', Vol.23, pp. 112–116 * ''Les Peuples de la péninsule indochinoise'', 1962 * ''Decouverte numismatique au Siam interessant le royaume de Dvaravati,'' Paris, Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1964. * ''L'avenir des etudes khmeres'', Saigon, Imprimerie nouvelle d'Extrême-Orient, 1965 * ''Angkor: an Introduction'' translated and edited by Emily Floyd Gardiner, photographs by George Bliss, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1966 * ''The making of South East Asia'', translated by H. M. Wright, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966 * ''Catalogue des manuscrits en pali, laotien et siamois provenant de la Thailande'', Copenhague, Bibliothèque Royale, 1966 * ''The Indianized States of Southeast Asia'', edited by Walter F. Vella, translated by Susan Brown Cowing, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1968 * —and Charles Archaimbault, ''Les trois mondes = Traibhumi Brah R'van'' Paris, École française d'Extrême-Orient 1973 * ''Sriwijaya: history, religion & language of an early Malay polity. Collected studies by George Cœdès and

Louis-Charles Damais Louis-Charles Damais (1911 in Paris – 23 May 1966 in Djakarta) was a researcher at the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO). In 1937, he moved to Java, in what was then the Dutch East Indies, studying the monuments and history of the islan ...

'', Kuala Lumpur, MBRAS, 1992 *''Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers,'' New York, Palgrave Macmillan, Aczel, Amir D., 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coedes, George French archaeologists French epigraphers Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy 20th-century archaeologists 20th-century French historians Historians of Southeast Asia Historians of Thailand Writers from Paris Recipients of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres George Cœdes 1886 births 1969 deaths

Biography

Decorations

Works

Further reading

See also

References