Jeanne Leuba

Jeanne Leuba (8 November 1882, Paris – 24 July 1979, Pettenbach) was a French journalist, writer and poet. Having spent many years in Indochina and Cambodia, she is considered one of the most impressive of the women colonial novelists.

Life Jeanne Leuba was born on 8 November 1882 into a Parisian Protestant family. Her father was a well-known anatomical drawing artist A. J. Leuba. In childhood she was trained to become a concert pianist. In 1905 she married Henri Parmentier, a director of EFEO (École Française d'Extrême Orient) archaeological service, and went with him to Indochina. In the colony Leuba accompanied Parmentier in all his archaeological exploration treks in the local bush. From her diaries we know about the taxing conditions of their traveling. Many remote places that Parmentier wanted to study could be reached only by sampans, canoes, ox-driven carts or on foot.

She published several articles on the Angkor monuments and two books on the ethnic group of Chams in Southeast Asia: Les Chams d’autrefois et d’aujourd’hui (1915), and Un royaume disparu: les Chams et leur art (1923). Among all her writings best remembered are her collection of poetry La tristesse du soleil, discussed by Patrick Laude, and Le metis ensorcelle (1941), mentioned in general survey works on Francophone Indochinese literature. Les Ruines d'Angkor, Imprimerie administrative, 1914 Les Chams d'autrefois et d'aujourd'hui, La Revue Indochinoise, 1915 Pour un bijou, La Revue Indochinoise, 1917 L’Ombre nuptiale, Plon-Nourrit et Cie, 1919 Loin du monde, La Revue Indochinoise, juin 1919, p. 563–573 L'Aile de feu, Plon-Nourrit, 1920 Frick en exil, Perrin, 1923 Un royaume disparu. Les Chams et leur art, G. Van Oest et cie, 1923 (Preface of Louis Finot) La Fin d'un roi cambodgien, Éditions de la revue "Extrême-Asie", 1928 La Brève lumière, E. Flammarion, 1930 Le Personnel reconnaissant, Le Petit Écho de la Mode, no 37, 10 September 1933 Le Métis ensorcelé. La Roue du temps. Condiments. Les Deux nuits de l'as de trèfle. Camille ou l'ingénue malgré lui, J. Aspar, 1941 Le Mystère de Bel-Abri. Le Rubis volé. La Servante des Aiguilles, J. Aspar, 1942 Écumes, J. Aspar, 1943 L'Art du Laos (with Henri Parmentier), Imprimerie Nationale (Publications of l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient), 1954 Angkor. Guide Henri Parmentier (with Henri Parmentier), E.K.L.I.P, 1960