Denys Lombard (1938 – January 8, 1998) was a leading

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n expert with contributions to

Southeast Asian studies Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countr ...

Sinology Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to th ...

, and the history of maritime Asia. He was famous for efforts to compare insular Southeast Asia and the Asian Seas to the Mediterranean area.

Early life and education

Lombard was born in

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France. His father was Maurice Lombard, Director of Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) 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. S ...

and colleague of

Fernand Braudel Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...

. Lombard possessed at least six academic degrees, including a graduate degree in history and four degrees in languages (Chinese, Malay-Indonesian, Cambodian and Thai). He spoke over a dozen languages.

Career

Lombard was the head of the Division des Aires Culturelles in the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

(EHESS) and the director of the École Français d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) from 1993 to 1998. His major work on Indonesia was the three volume work ''Le carrefour javanais''

Personal life

Lombard was married to another scholar of Asia,

Claudine Salmon Claudine may refer to: Name * Claudine (given name), a feminine given name of French origin Culture * ''Claudine'' (film), a 1974 American film by John Berry ** ''Claudine'' (soundtrack), its soundtrack album. Music by Curtis Mayfield Curtis ...

. He died in 1998 in Paris. A Festschrift in honour was produced a year later

Publications

* * , Third Edition: - * * * ''Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale'' he Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History By Denys Lombard. Three volumes. Paris: Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 1990. * *

References

1938 births 1998 deaths Historians of Southeast Asia 20th-century French historians Indonesianists {{academic-stub