Louis-Charles Damais (1911 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 23 May 1966 in

Djakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and an autonomous region at the provincial leve ...

) was a researcher at the

École française d'Extrême-Orient The French School of the Far East (, ; also translated as The French School of Asian StudiesPreferred translation by EFEO staff. SeEFEO official website), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of ...

(EFEO). In 1937, he moved to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, in what was then the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, studying the monuments and history of the island. He remained in Java for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, the EFEO sent him to

Hanoi, Vietnam Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. In 1952, he opened the Indonesian office of the EFEO in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, where he spent the rest of his life. The French international school in Jakarta was named Lycée Louis-Charles Damais after him in 2008.

Early life and education

Damais was born in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Damais had an early passion for foreign languages, where enrolled at the National School of Oriental Languages. He showed exceptional talent and obtained six degrees:

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, oriental

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, literary Arabic, Turkish, Malay, and Chinese. He also spoke Hungarian,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, English,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and learned

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. At the Sorbonne, Damais received various graduate certificates: Arabic studies,

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

, and

history of religions The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the st ...

. In 1935, the Fondation de Montfort awarded him a scholarship to the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

to learn Javanese and Dutch.

Career

In April 1937, he went to Batavia, as project manager of the Ministry of Education and in Surakarta, where he studied dance, music and Javanese language. A musician himself, he developed a passion for gamelan and learned to play numerous instruments. He was also interested in the socio-political future of Java that later became Indonesia. Living in Java during the years of the Japanese occupation, he befriended Dr. , head of the Archaeological Service in the

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independe ...

. He returned to France in 1947, and then went to Saigon in 1949 to teach at the university. It was at this time that he joined the EFEO as general secretary: he moved to Hanoi a year before the school established a research center in Jakarta in 1952. In 1954, he participated in meetings to determine the use of neologisms in Indonesian, the official language of the young Republic. In the 1950s, he published in BEFEO six major series of studies for Indonesia. In 1959, at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, in the historical and philological sciences department, he created a management study of Indonesian languages and civilizations. In 1960 he published the first French translation of the letters of

Kartini Raden Adjeng Kartini, also known as Raden Ayu Kartini (21 April 1879 – 17 September 1904), was a prominent Indonesian advocate of women's rights and female education. She was born into an aristocratic Javanese people, Javanese family in the ...

, with the support of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. He died suddenly in

in May 1966, leaving behind much unfinished work.

External links

Damias biography

Damias obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damais, Louis-Charles 1911 births 1966 deaths Writers from Paris French orientalists French epigraphers French philologists 20th-century philologists French expatriates in the Dutch East Indies French people of colonial Vietnam

Early life and education

Career

See also

External links