Louis Finot was a French archeologist and researcher, specialising in the cultures of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. A former director of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient

École française d'Extrême-Orient

The École française d'Extrême-Orient is a French institute dedicated to the study of Asian societies. Translated into English, it approximately means the French School of the Far East. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in what was then French Indochina. After independence, its...

, his contribution to the study of Khmer

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 history, architecture and epigraphy is widely recognised.

A bachelor of law and letters, Finot was admitted to the École Nationale des Chartes

École Nationale des Chartes

The École Nationale des Chartes is a grand établissement, an elite French university-level educational institution based in Paris. It provides education and training for archivists and librarians and forms part of the University of Paris.-History:...

 in 1886. He left it two years later with the title of palaeographer. He worked initially as a trainee then as an assistant librarian with the French National Library and undertook studies of Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

. In 1898, he was named director of the archaeological mission in Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

, which would become in 1900 the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient

École française d'Extrême-Orient

The École française d'Extrême-Orient is a French institute dedicated to the study of Asian societies. Translated into English, it approximately means the French School of the Far East. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in what was then French Indochina. After independence, its...

 (EFEO). In 1933 he became a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres

The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...

.

Publications

• 1896: Les lapidaires indiens, Paris, Émile Bouillon (Bibliothèque de l'École des hautes études), 280 p.
• 1916: Notes d'épigraphie indochinoise, Hanoi, Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, 439 p.
• 1917: « Recherches sur la littérature laotienne », BEFEO 17/5, p. 1-219.
• 1921. « Archéologie indochinoise » et « L'ethnographie indochinoise », BEFEO 21/1, p. 43-166 et 167-196.
• 1923: Les questions de Milinda, Milinda-Pañhha. Traduit du pali avec introduction et notes, Paris, Bossard (Les classiques de l'Orient, 8).
• 1925: « Lokesvara en Indochine », Paris, EFEO/Van Oest, (PEFEO 19), Études Asiatiques (1), p. 227-256, pl. 16-25.
• 1925: « Inscriptions d'Angkor », BEFEO 25/3-4, p. 297-407.
• 1926: (with Victor Goloubew et Henri Parmentier), Le temple d'Içvarapura (Banteay Srei
  Banteay Srei
  Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom...
  
  , Cambodge), Paris, EFEO (Mémoires archéologiques, 1), 140 p., 72 pl.
• 1928: « Nouvelles inscriptions du Cambodge », BEFEO 28/1-2, p. 43-80, pl. 1-5.
• 1929-32: (with V. Goloubew et George Coedès
  George Coedès
  Georges Cœdès was a 20th century scholar of southeast Asian archaeology and history. Coedès was born in Paris to a family of supposed Hungarian-Jewish emigres. In fact, the family was known as having settled in the region of Strasbourg before 1740. His ancestors were working for the royal Treasury...
  
  ), Le temple d'Angkor Vat, Paris, EFEO (Mémoires archéologiques, 2).