Claude-François Baudez (3 December 1932 – 13 July 2013) was a French

Mayanist A Mayanist () is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Mayanists draw ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and iconologist. He was honorary director of research at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

, a specialist on the rituals and beliefs of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, particularly of the Maya civilisation.

Career

In his early years, Claude-François Baudez studied the little-known remains of Mesoamerican civilisations in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. Since 1971, he has devoted himself mainly to research on the Maya culture. He was co-director of French excavations at the

Toniná Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo. The sit ...

archaeological site in Mexico, and led the

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the ...

exploration and restoration programme, while studying its sculpture. He is co-author of , published in the collection “” at

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

; and , a richly illustrated pocket book from the

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

“

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

”, which has been translated into twelve languages, including English.

Research chronicle

* 1957-1960 Costa Rica: Investigations at the Papagayo site in the Valley of Tempisque. * 1964-1965 Honduras: Investigations in the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca (; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The waters of the gulf are shared among all three countries. History Fonseca Bay was discovered by European ...

region and in the Valley of

Comayagua Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level. The accelerated growth experienced by the city of Comayagua led the municipal authoriti ...

. * 1967-1969 Honduras: Excavation at the archaeological region Los Naranjos (in collaboration with ). * 1971-1973 Mexico: Excavation at the

site (in collaboration with Pierre Becquelin). * 1977-1980 Honduras: Direction of the

Archaeological Project. * 1981-1984 Honduras: Annual stays in Copán for

in-situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

study of its sculptures. * 1989 Mexico: Stay in

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

for in-situ studies of its sculptures. * 1990 Costa Rica: Excavations at the Diquís Delta. * 1994 Mexico: Iconographic studies at Balamku.

Selected bibliography

* ''Recherches Archéologiques dans la vallée du Tempisque, Guanacaste, Costa Rica'', Travaux et Mémoires de l’Institut des Hautes Études de l’Amérique Latine, 1967 * ''Amérique Centrale'', collection « Archaeologia Mundi ». Nagel Publishers, 1970 * Co-author with Pierre Becquelin, ''Le monde précolombien : Les Mayas'', collection « L’Univers des Formes » (nº 31). Éditions Gallimard, 1984 * Co-author with Sydney Picasso, ''Les cités perdues des Mayas'', collection «

» (nº 20), série Archéologie. Éditions Gallimard, 1987 (new edition in 2008) ** US edition – ''

Lost Cities of the Maya ''Lost Cities of the Maya'' () is a 1987 Livre d'art, illustrated monograph on Maya civilization, Maya Archaeology of the Americas#Mesoamerica, archaeology. Co-written by the French Mayanist and iconologist Claude-François Baudez and art histori ...

'', “

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

” series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992 ** UK edition – ''Lost Cities of the Maya'', ‘

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

’ series.

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 1992 * ''

Jean-Frédéric Waldeck Jean-Frédéric Maximilien de Waldeck (c. 1766 – April 30, 1875) was a French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer. He was a man of talent and accomplishment, but his love of self-promotion and refusal to let the truth get in the way ...

, peintre : le premier explorateur des ruines mayas'', Hazan, 1993 * ''Maya Sculpture of Copán: The Iconography'',

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...

, 1994 * ''Une histoire de la religion des Mayas : Du panthéisme au panthéon'', collection « Bibliothèque Albin Michel de l’histoire ». Éditions Albin Michel, 2002 * ''Una historia de la religión de los antiguos Mayas'',

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

, 2004 * ''Les Mayas'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2004 (collection « Guide Belles Lettres des civilisations »). * ''La douleur rédemptrice. L'autosacrifice précolombien'', Paris, Riveneuve éditions, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudez, Claude-François 1932 births 2013 deaths Mayanists French archaeologists Mesoamerican archaeologists 20th-century Mesoamericanists