Bernard Col de Monteiro (Khmer: ឧកញ៉ា កុលដឺម៉ុងតេរោ) was a Khmer Catholic of Portuguese descent who served the Cambodian monarchy during the second half of the 19th century, and was "one of the major mandarins of King
Norodom
Norodom ( km, នរោត្តម, ; born Ang Voddey ( km, អង្គវតី, ); 3 February 1834 – 24 April 1904) was King of Cambodia from 19 October 1860 to his death on 24 April 1904. He was the eldest son of King Ang Duong and was ...
" and a "member of the new-old national
élite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
''à la française''" at the beginning the
French protectorate of Cambodia
The French protectorate of Cambodia ( km, ប្រទេសកម្ពុជាក្រោមអាណាព្យាបាលបារាំង; french: Protectorat français du Cambodge) refers to the Kingdom of Cambodia when it was a Fren ...
.
Background
Bernard Col de Monteiro is the most illustrious member of the de Monteiro family in Cambodia. The "de Monteiro" are the descendants of a family of Portuguese origin. The presence of a “de Monteiro” was confirmed at Ponhea Lu towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. They are the remnants of the historical adventures of the Portuguese intervention in the
Indochinese Peninsula
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
since the 16th century. The Khmer-Portuguese
''mestizo'' or ''kon kat'' as they are called in Khmer retain Portuguese and Spanish family names to this day, while their physical appearance has moulded in with that of the locals.
Biography
A Catholic family faithful to the King of Cambodia
Bernard Col de Monteiro was born around 1839 in the Catholic village of Ponhea Lu, close to the capital of Oudom, north of Phnom Penh. He was the son of ''
Oknha
''Oknha'' ( km, ឧកញ៉ា, ) is a Khmer honorific. It has different meanings depending on the period it was used.
Linguistics
The word means "nobleman" or "lord".
The translation of "''Oknha''" is not unanimous. Leaning on the meaning of ...
'' Bernados Ros de Monteiro and Neang Chhun Elisabeth. In 1850, his father, Bernardo Ros, accompanied French missionary Charles-Émile Bouillevaux as he was the first Frenchman to discover the remains of
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...
, which he later introduced to French explorer
Henri Mouhot
Alexandre Henri Mouhot (May 15, 1826 — November 10, 1861) was a French naturalist and explorer of the mid-19th century. He was born in Montbéliard, Doubs, France, near the Swiss border, but spent his childhood in Russia and, possibly, parts ...
.
Bernard was sent to further his studies at the Catholic mission in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, and later to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to learn English. He then enter the royal court of
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
and pledged allegiance at the service of King
Ang Duong
Ang Duong ( km, អង្គឌួង ; 12 June 1796 – 19 October 1860) was the King of Cambodia from 1841 to 1844 and from 1845 to his death in 1860. Formally invested in 1848, his rule benefited a kingdom that suffered from several centuries ...
. As many Christians of Portuguese descent, Col de Monteiro found a niche as interpreter and secretary of the royal court of Cambodia where he began working in 1860.
Col de Monteiro was given as a Khmer language teacher to
Ernest Doudart de Lagrée
Ernest Marc Louis de Gonzague Doudart de Lagrée (; March 31, 1823 – March 12, 1868) was the leader of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866-1868.
He was born in Saint-Vincent-de-Mercuze near Grenoble, France, and graduated from the École ...
, leader of the
French Mekong Expedition of 1866-1868, who described him in these words:
Col de Monteiro kept an excellent reputation among the French as later in 1890,
Adhémard Leclère had similar words of praise for the kings' secretary interpreter.
At the end of 1873, Col de Monteiro was involved in a commercial scam as his official signature was abusively used by "false count and quintessential
carpetbagger
In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...
", Frédéric Thomas-Caraman, one of the first French merchants established in Phnom Penh in the 1860s' who used the Khmer King's reputation to go on a shopping spree in Paris.
During the French intervention phase to weaken the secular authority of royal power from 1884 to 1886, Col de Monteiro was logically identified as loyal to
Norodom
Norodom ( km, នរោត្តម, ; born Ang Voddey ( km, អង្គវតី, ); 3 February 1834 – 24 April 1904) was King of Cambodia from 19 October 1860 to his death on 24 April 1904. He was the eldest son of King Ang Duong and was ...
and resistant to the French takeover of the country, and was removed under guard by order of Governor
Charles Antoine François Thomson
Charles Antoine François Thomson (25 September 1845 – 8 July 1898) was a French civil servant who was sub-prefect and then prefect of various departments of metropolitan France.
Between 1882 and 1885 he was governor of the colony of Cochinchina ...
during Norodom's forced signature of the convention of 17 June 1884. The humiliation was such that some historians recorded that he was "thrown out the window" while his descendants recalled that he had to suffer long years in prison for standing up for the independence of Cambodia, both of which a mere
crystallisation
Crystallization is the process by which solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely deposi ...
of a distant but painful memory.
Emergence of a competent Cambodian statesman
Between 1893 and 1895, Col de Monteiro served as Secretary of the Royal Treasury. At the instigation of the French authorities, in 1896, he became Minister of the Navy (''Oknha Kralahom'') and thus joined the Council of Ministers, despite resistance from King Norodom himself. In the 1897 ''
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
'' against King Norodom, this time, he supported with the other members of the council of ministers, including Prime Minister Oum, a second attempt by the French to neutralize the authority of the king. Faced with this act of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, King Norodom locked himself in his Palace feeling betrayed by his mandarins.
From there on, anti-monarchists historians such as
Milton E. Osborne consider that Col de Monteiro answered directly to the French protectorate and became part of the King's "tame cabinet", submitted to the directions of the French. However, despite the king's grudge, Col continued to play a role in improving the relationship between the French and the Khmer administration. In 1903, Col de Monteiro was appointed
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
(''Oknha Yomareach''). In the company of
Thiounn
Somdach Veang Thiounn ( km, ឧកញ៉ា វ៉ាង ជួន, Oknha Veang Thiounn) was a Cambodian state official during the French protectorate of Cambodia who had a lasting influence on Khmer historiography through the Cambodian Royal Ch ...
, Minister of the Palace, and Son Diep, de Monteiro accompanied King Sisowath on an official visit to France in 1906.
Glory as Minister of the Palace and downfall after the death of a polygam
In 1907, after the death of Minister Poc, he was appointed to succeed him. Col de Monteiro would occupy this position for a fairly short time because he died in November or December of 1908. He was replaced by Prince Sathavong, son of King Norodom, who had married his own niece, Neang Samreth de Monteiro. One of the couple's granddaughters is Neak Norodom Thavet Norleak, who became one of Norodom Sihanouk's wives, sealing once more the alliance of the de Monteiro clan and the royal dynasty of Cambodia.
As various claims were made to his large estate after his death, it appeared through a two-year judicial enquiry that Col de Monteiro had been living more than a double life as a
polygam, with a least eight women claiming posterity from him and fifteen more concubines, whom he kept for his entertainment to sing in his
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
.
Legacy
First translation of the Cambodian Royal Chronicles
French colonialist Doudart de Lagrée asked Col de Monteiro to transcribe into Latin the version of the royal chronicles of Cambodia attributed to the scholar Nong. When published in 1866, it was the first translation of the ''
Cambodian Royal Chronicles
The Cambodian Royal Chronicles or Cambodian Chronicles (Rajabansavatar or Rapa Ksatr) are a collection of 18th and 19th century historical manuscripts that focus on the time from around the year 1430 to the beginning of the 16th century. This perio ...
'' in a foreign language, and the first history of Cambodia published in a foreign language. His transcription in Latin letters has been criticized for its lack of literal faithfulness to the original as it attempts to provide an optimistic way of telling history about Cambodia, in order to please the French.
Relationship between the Catholic Church and the monarchy of Cambodia
Col de Monteiro played a pivotal role in the construction of a good relationship between the
Catholic Church in Cambodia
The Catholic Church in Cambodia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Throughout the Church's history in Cambodia, Catholics made up a small percentage of the country's population, and a majo ...
and the
Cambodian monarchy
The monarchy of Cambodia is the head of state of the Kingdom of Cambodia. In the contemporary period, the King's power has been limited to that of a symbolic figurehead. The monarchy had been in existence since at least 68 AD except during ...
. Through his Catholic faith, his knowledge of languages and his position at the Royal palace, he was instrumental in facilitating the relationships between King Norodom and the French missionaries of that period.
As his grandfather who served as secretary of King Ang Chan II until his execution, he was one the most notorious Catholics in Cambodia, as were later
Sosthene Fernandez, or currently, the
Queen Monique of Cambodia.
Close to the
Catholic church of Saint-Joseph in Phnom Penh, Street 72 still bears the name of Col de Monteiro as a sign of his legacy.
References
Bibliography
*
* {{Cite journal , last=Phoeun , first=Mak , date=1980 , title=L'introduction de la Chronique royale du Cambodge du lettré Nong , url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_1980_num_67_1_3344 , journal=Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient , volume=67 , issue=1 , pages=135–145 , doi=10.3406/befeo.1980.3344
Cambodian people