science · 15 May 1826 · 198 years ago
birth
Born 15 May 1826; died 10 Nov 1861 at age 35.
Alexandre-Henri Mouhot was a French naturalist and explorer of the interior of Siam, Cambodia and Laos (1858-61). He is remembered for his reports of the ruins of Angkor, capital of the ancient Khmer civilization of Cambodia. The location was known to the local population, had been visited by several westerners since the 16th century, but it was Mouhot's evocative accounts and detailed sketches that popularized the Angkor series of sites with the western public. He drew the attention of western scholars to the many ancient terraces, pools, moated cities, palaces and temples as important archaeological sites. His books were published posthumously as he died in Laos at the young age of 35 from malarial fever on his fourth jungle expedition.
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