Annales de Paléontologie 105 (2019) 173–190 Disponible en ligne sur ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Original article Scientific life of a French catholic missionary: Henri Fontaine (1924–?) La vie scientifique d’un missionnaire catholique franc¸ ais : Henri Fontaine (1924–?) Thi Than Hoang 11, Rue Bourgeot, 94240 L’Hay-Les-Roses,¨ France a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This article relates the long scientific life of the French catholic missionary, Father/Doctor Henri Fontaine. Received 12 December 2018 He is also a geologist, a palaeontologist, an expert on Paleozoic corals and an archeologist. The year Accepted 12 April 2019 th th 2018 marked his 94 birthday, 70 sacerdotal year and 64 years of his scientific career. He has devoted Available online 14 June 2019 most of his life to scientific activities in East and Southeast Asia: from 1954 to late 1975 in Viet Nam as geologist-expert, from 1978 to 2013 in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Keywords: Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, within the framework of the Coordinating Committee for Coastal and Biography Offshore Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) and afterwards as a volunteer once Archaeology (prehistory) he had retired. Until 2018, he published nearly 300 articles about geology, palaeontology and prehistory, Palaeontology Stratigraphy mostly as sole author or main author. Although he initially intended to be priest living among villagers East and Southeast Asia somewhere in Asia, his life evolved, in spite of himself, following spiritual, political and scientific events. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. r é s u m é Mots clés : Cet article retrace la longue vie scientifique du missionnaire catholique franc¸ ais, le Père/Docteur Henri Biographie Fontaine. Il est aussi géologue, paléontologue, spécialiste des coraux paléozoïques et archéologue. L’année e e Archéologie (préhistoire) 2018 a marqué son 94 anniversaire de naissance, sa 70 année sacerdotale et ses 64 ans de carrière Paléontologie scientifique. Il a consacré une large partie de sa vie à la recherche scientifique dans l’Est et le Sud-Est Stratigraphie Asiatique : de 1954 à la fin 1975 au Viet Nam comme expert-géologue, de Mars 1978 à Mars 2013 au Est et Sud-Est Asiatique Cambodge, en Chine, Corée, Indonésie, au Laos, en Malaisie, aux Philippines, Singapour, en Thaïlande, et au Viet Nam, comme senior-expert dans le cadre du Coordinating Committee for Coastal and Offshore Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP), puis comme bénévole à l’âge de la retraite. Jusqu’en 2018, il a été auteur ou principal auteur de près de trois cents articles essentiellement consacrés à la géologie, la paléontologie et la préhistoire. Rêvant de devenir missionnaire vivant parmi des villageois quelque part en Asie, sa vie avait évolué, malgré lui, suivant des évènements spirituels, politiques et scientifiques. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserv´ es.´ 1. Introduction result not only of several discussions with Father H. Fontaine, but also of access with his permission to personal documents and pho- In 2015, based on various conversations, a short biography of tographs (Figs. 1 to 4), to numerous publications and from 50 years Father/Doctor Henri Fontaine with a selected list of bibliographical of our collaboration, more or less close during this long period. Fr. 1 2 references was created in Wikipedia (in English and French ) by Henri Fontaine is a catholic missionary of the Missions Etrangères 3 the author (under the pseudonym Hoang24). This paper was the de Paris ((MEP) Foreign Missions of Paris) who became a geologist, a palaeontologist, a specialist on Paleozoic corals and an archae- th ologist of East Asia. The year 2018 marked his 94 birthday, his E-mail address: [email protected] 1 https://en.wikikpedia.org/wiki/henri fontaine. 2 3 https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/henri fontaine missionnaire et géologue. 128 Rue du Bac, 75007 Paris, France. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annpal.2019.05.004 0753-3969/© 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 174 T.T. Hoang / Annales de Paléontologie 105 (2019) 173–190 Fig. 1. A, Nov. 1953 Ha Noi (Viet Nam); B, 1957 S. Viet Nam - Fieldwork; C, 1990s Phnom Penh (Kampuchea) - Work meeting; D, 1975 Letter of recommendation provided by the Geological Group B2 (Revolutionary Temporary Government of the Republic of South Viet Nam) to “Comrade Henri Fontaine”. A, Nov. 1953 Ha Noi (Viet Nam) ; B, 1957, Sud du Viet Nam - Travail sur le terrain ; C, 1990s Phnom Penh (Cambodge) - Réunion de travail ; D, 1975 Lettre de recommandation fournie par le Groupe Géologique B2 (Gouvernement Révolutionnaire Provisoire de la République du Sud Viet Nam) au « Camarade Henri Fontaine ». th 70 sacerdotal year and his 64 years of scientific research (Fig. 4G). of others”. In his own words, Henri Fontaine had outlined the way Until now, he has spent the most of his life studying the geology of of his life. different countries of East and South-East Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thai- 2.1. 1924–1951: In France land and especially Viet Nam where, outside geology, he conducted research on prehistory. He gathered a large quantity of samples of Born on 20 July 1924 at Saint Fraimbault (Fig. 4A), one of the fossiliferous rocks, fossils, stone tools, artifacts, potsherds and so most flourishing villages of Normandy (Fig. 4B), and also of France, on. He erected a hundred genera and species of corals and brought H. Fontaine is the eldest of three children in a farmer’s family. So together an important collection of thin sections. On the basis of from a very young age, he was close to nature, with his younger these researches, about 300 articles were published, with him as sister and brother they loved to get crayfish in the small river bor- sole or main author. He initially intended being a priest living dering the family farm. He studied at the petit séminaire of Sées among villagers, but his scientific life changed over decades fol- (Normandy) and some months in the grand séminaire of Sées (Octo- lowing important spiritual, political and scientific events. ber 1943–February 1944). Following a meeting with two priests, one relating his experience from Africa and the other one from Asia within the framework of the Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) 2. Biography which were founded 360 years ago, H. Fontaine left the grand sémi- naire and entered the MEP in March 1944. He studied the history “When I was young, very young, a priest told me that to be a of MEP, theology, philosophy, at MEP Bièvre (a suburb of Paris). He priest one must know singing and preaching. I don’t have a good was ordained on 29 June 1948 at the Chapel of the MEP in Paris. The tongue and a nice voice but I want to dedicate my life to the service General Superior of the MEP at that time was Father Charles Joseph T.T. Hoang / Annales de Paléontologie 105 (2019) 173–190 175 Fig. 2. A, 1981 Lurah Tambang (Sumatra, Indonesia); B, 1994 Somewhere in Thailand; C, 1996 Guangzhou (China); D, 1990s Bukit Besi (Terengganu, Malaysia); E, 1993 Ha Noi (Viet Nam); F, 1988 Baguio City (Philippines). A, 1981 Lurah Tambang (Sumatra, Indonésie) ; B, 1994 Quelque part en Thaïlande ; C, 1996 Guangzhou (Chine) ; D, 1990s Bukit Besi (Terengganu, Malaisie) ; E, 1993 Ha Noi (Viet Nam) ; F, 1988 Baguio (Philippines). Lemaire (1900–1995) who wished young priests to have a higher 2.2. 1951–1975: In Viet Nam academic education. Therefore he sent three young missionaries to the University of Lille: Jean-Baptiste Delaby (1923–1967) who 2.2.1. 1951–1954: North Viet Nam chose mathematics, Henri Fontaine (1924–), who studied natural In September 1951, sent in mission by the MEP to Viet Nam, sciences and Pierre Gauthier (1925–1996), who probably stud- H. Fontaine was installed at a village located between Ha Noi and ied English. H. Fontaine spent two years at the University of Lille Hoa Binh to study Vietnamese and to help Fr. Louis Vilacroux (geology and biology) and two others at the University of Nancy (1905–1999) taking care of sick persons for 7 or 8 months. There- (chemistry and zoology) before receiving his Licence ès Sciences in after, on the demand of the Vietnamese Bishop, he was sent 1951. back to Ha Noi to be teacher of natural sciences at the petit 176 T.T. Hoang / Annales de Paléontologie 105 (2019) 173–190 Fig. 3. A, 2001 Ha Noi; B, Label of mineral water bottle produced in South Viet Nam; C, 1996 CCOP Delegates at 33rd Annual Session in Shanghai (China). They were all born in the year of the Rat. e A, 2001 Ha Noi ; B, Étiquette d’une bouteille d’eau minérale produite au Sud Viet Nam ; C, 1996 CCOP Délégués du CCOP à la 33 Session Annuelle à Shanghai (Chine). Ils sont tous nés en l’Année du Rat. séminaire, speaking in French for the highest class, in Vietnamese French Empire in Indochina. These people tried to keep stu- for the others. Among the professors at the school, two were dents away from him after teaching hours. Wasting no time, H. anti-French people. We were at that time nearly three years Fontaine bought a motorbike (Fig. 1A) and went to the Geological before the battle of Dien Bien Phu that caused the fall of the Survey to meet Dr. Edmond Saurin (1904–1977) (Fontaine, 1982), T.T. Hoang / Annales de Paléontologie 105 (2019) 173–190 177 Fig. 4. A, 1925 St.