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

southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

archaeology 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 history.

Biography

Cœdès was born 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 ...

to a family known as having settled in the region of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

before 1740. His ancestors worked for the royal Treasury. His grandfather, was a painter, pupil of Léon Coignet. His father Hippolyte worked as a banker. It has also, incorrectly, been asserted that he was descended from Hungarian-

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

émigrés. 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 a Cambodian woman named Neang Yap. 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 (; 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 ...

and Old Khmer inscriptions from

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. In addition to scores of articles (especially in the ''Bulletin'' of the École française d'Extrême-Orient), 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 Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...

, centred on the modern-day Indonesian city of 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 list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

through to the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located 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 area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

and

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 ...

. However, due to focusing on the history of lower

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, Cœdès was criticized by another historian Tatsuo Hoshino as having underestimated the importance of northern Indochina,

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, and the central Mekong Valley.

Decorations

Cœdès received the following decorations: * 1919 – Commander (Third Class) of the Most Exalted

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...

, 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 sash ...

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 ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(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'École 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 découverte 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 * ''Découverte numismatique au Siam interessant le royaume de Dvaravati,'' Paris, Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1964. * ''L'avenir des études khmères'', 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'', Kuala Lumpur, MBRAS, 1992

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coedes, George French epigraphers Corresponding fellows of the British Academy 20th-century French 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 Archaeologists of Southeast Asia

Biography

Decorations

Works

Further reading

See also

References