Bruno Dagens

Bruno Dagens (1935 – 17 September 2023 ) was a French archaeologist, art historian, Sanskritist, and a specialist on Angkor Wat. He was a professor emeritus of the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3.

Career Dagens began to study archaeology in his early years in Afghanistan, influenced by Daniel Schlumberger. After his graduation in history and archaeology, as well as Sanskrit, he performed various internships with the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan. From 1957 to 1964, he participated in the excavations at Mundigak and Surkh Kotal and carried out research on the so-called Greco-Buddhist art (Hadda and Bactria). In 1964, he undertook the translation of Mayamata, a Sanskrit treatise on architecture. He obtained the CAPES of history and geography and taught from 1964 to 1965 in Obernai. Then he was seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an expert for the Angkor Conservation from 1965 to 1969.

In Cambodia, Dagens conducted scientific activity in three topics: research on the iconography and architecture of monuments of the Angkorian period accompanied by systematic surveys; research on statuary, centered on the elaboration of a detailed catalogue of the Buddhist pieces from the sculpture depot of the Angkor Conservation; philological work on Mayamata, completed by monumental studies in Cambodia and India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu). He has also done work dealing with the Khmer and the Indian temple – The Indian Temple: Mirror of the World, originally published in French in 2009.

Selected publications Angkor : La forêt de pierre, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 64), série Archéologie. Éditions Gallimard, 1989 US edition – Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire, "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1995 UK edition – Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire, ‘New Horizons’ series. Thames & Hudson, 1995 Les Khmers, coll. « Guides Belles Lettres des civilisations » (nº 10). Les Belles Lettres, 2003 With Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret, Shiva : Libérateur des âmes et Maître des dieux, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 450), série Religions. Éditions Gallimard, 2004 Le Temple indien : Miroir du monde, coll. « Réalia » (nº 21). Les Belles Lettres, 2009 The Indian Temple: Mirror of the World, New Age Books and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 2016 With Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret, Shiva, coll. « Albums Beaux Livres », Éditions Gallimard, 2013 Translation Mayamuni, Mayamata : Traité Sanskrit d'Architecture, Institut Français d'Indologie, 1970 Mayamata: An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Scientific Research, 1985 (an updated edition published in 2017 by New Age Books)