Louis Finot (1864-1935) was an eminent Orientalist and the founding director of the École française d’Extrême-Orient in Hanoi in 1900.

Deciphering Millennial Inscriptions

With profound knowledge of classical Sanskrit and ancient Indic epigraphy, he collected rubbings and published definitive translations of Cham stone inscriptions across My Son and Dong Duong.

His scholarship established royal genealogies, religious land endowments, and historical chronology for Southeast Asian studies.