Henri Mouhot - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Mouhot died of a malarial fever on his 4th expedition, in the jungles of Laos. He had been visiting Luang Prabang, capital of the Lan Xang kingdom, one of 3 kingdoms which eventually merged into what can be known as modern day Laos, and was under the patronage of the king. Two of his servants buried him near a French mission in Naphan, by the banks of the Nam Khan river. Mouhot's favourite servant, Phrai, transported all of Mouhot's journals and specimens back to Bangkok, from where they were shipped to Europe.

A modest monument was erected over his grave in 1867, under the orders of French commander Doudart de Lagrée, who gave him this eulogy:

"We found everywhere the memory of our compatriot who, by the uprightness of his character and his natural benevolence, had acquired the regard and the affection of the natives."

The monument was destroyed by the overflow of the river Nam Khan. It was replaced in 1887 by a more durable crypt monument, and a maisonnette was built nearby to house and feed visitors to the white shrine. Some restoration work was done on the tomb in 1951 by the EFEO (Ecole Française d'Extrème Orient—The French School of the Far East).

Mouhot's tomb was consumed by the jungle and lost, until it was accidentally rediscovered in 1990. His birth town of Montbeliard in 1990 then helped with its restoration. A new plaque on one end of the crypt commemorates the rediscovery of Mouhot's burial place in 1990. The location is now known to hotels and tourist operators in Luang Prabang, and a van may be hired to take one along a dusty road to visit it. This entails a walk down a steep track to the river, along the river for about 150 metres, and then heading up a well-cleared track to the tomb.

The popularity of Angkor generated by Mouhot's writings, led to the popular support for a major French role in its study and preservation. The French carried out the majority of research work on Angkor until recently.

Borne of the posthumous misattribution to Henri Mouhot discovering Angkor, the idea that Angkor was lost and (re)discovered by Europeans lingers on, reinforced by Hollywood images of Europeans hacking through jungles to stumble upon the lost ruins of Angkor; an uninformed host of Discovery Channel's Beyond Borders program described just such a scenario of Mouhot, perpetuating the myth.