Henri Fontaine

Henri Fontaine (20 July 1924 – 31 January 2020), was a French Roman Catholic missionary. He was also a pre-Tertiary geologist/paleontologist, Paleozoic corals specialist, and archaeologist.

Biography

Fontaine was born in Normandy, France in July 1924.

Admitted into the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris and ordained in 1948, he was sent to Hanoi (Vietnam) in 1951[1] as professor at the Petit Séminaire. Meantime, he plunged into the study of Devonian corals of Indochina and Yunnan.[2] In 1954 when Viet Nam was divided into North and South, he settled at Saigon.

When he arrived in Saigon, there was neither a geological survey nor geologists. Upon the request of the Government of South Viet Nam, he set up and oversaw the new Geological Survey, and carried out research into limestone[3] and coal for developing a cement factory and coal mine, pure silica sands for glassworks, and mineral springs[4] for drinking and medicinal waters. Mineral water of the Dangun Spring (Province of Binh Thuân), one of the studied springs, has been exploited and bottled under the name Laska; its label mentions discovery in the 1950s by the French scientist H. Fontaine.

He released the only annual geological publication Archives géologiques du Viet Nam of which the first number came out in 1952 at Hanoi under the direction of Edmond Saurin[5] who was the last chief of Geological Survey of Indochina. From then on to 1975, this publication went through 16 new editions under his responsibility.

Early 1960, after getting Doctorat ès Sciences (PhD) at the University of Paris (Sorbonne, France), he was officially appointed expert-geologist to the Geological Survey of the Republic of Viet Nam, dependent himself on the Department of Cultural and Technical Cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France) from then on to 1976.

He founded the Department of Geology of the University of Huê (ancient imperial capital) and supported post-graduate students at the Faculty of Sciences of Saigon.

His research improved the geological maps 1/2 000 000 of the former French Indochina,[6] the geological understanding of coastal areas,[7][8] islands of the Gulf of Thailand,[9] and early Quaternary alluvial formations in the northwest of Saigon.[10] He also contributed to developing pilot studies in order to build up dams on different rivers (La Nga, Dông Nai ...) and to explore heavy minerals in dunes of sand, along the eastern coast, and bauxite on basaltic plateaus.

On fieldworks, he discovered a prehistoric site at Phuoc Tân (on the route to Bà Ria) and unearthed many others (Ngai Thang, Cù lao Rùa, ...).[11] Furthermore, he studied some archeological sites (Dau Giay,[12] Hoà Vinh near Phan Thiêt[13]). In 1971, with Hoang Thi Than, he discovered a funeral jars site at Phu Hoa (Province of Dông Nai).[14][15] The sites of Hoà Vinh and Phu Hoà belong to the Sa Huynh Culture.[16]

Late 1978, he was officially appointed cooperating expert to the CCOP (Coordinating Committee for Coastal and Offshore Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia)[17] which is based at Bangkok (Thailand) and supported until 1991 by the United Nations; thereafter it was sponsored by member countries and cooperating countries. From 1973 onwards, the CCOP has conducted a research project entitled "Pre-Tertiary Petroleum Potentials in the CCOP Region" with the support of the French Government which appointed his experts on pre-Tertiary geology and palaeontology to the CCOP.[18] Father Fontaine succeeded Mr André Bonnet,[18] another French geologist, and spent many months each year in Asia.

He died in l’Haÿ-les-Roses, near Paris, in January 2020 at the age of 95.[19]

Selected bibliography

(See also references)

References
  1. Moussay, Gérard; et al. (2008). Bibliographie des Missions Etrangères_Civilisations, Religions et Langues de l'Asie (in French). Paris: Les Indes savantes. p. 513. ISBN 978-2-84654-179-4.
  2. Fontaine, Henri (1954). "Étude et révision des Tabulés et Héliolitidés du Dévonien d'Indochine et du Yunnan" [Study and review of Devonian Tabulata and Heliolitidae from Indochina and Yunnan]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (2): 86.
  3. Fontaine, Henri; Douvrin, P. (1964). "Prospection des calcaires, Province de Huê" [Search for limestone in Huê area]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (6): 93–105.
  4. Fontaine, Henri (1957). "Les sources thermominérales du Viet Nam méridional" [Thermomineral springs of southern Viet Nam]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (4): 35–123.
  5. Fontaine, Henri (1980). "Edmond Saurin (1904-1977)". Asian Perspectives. Honolulu. 23 (1): 1–8.
  6. Fontaine, Henri (1971). Viet Nam-Kampuchia-Laos, carte géologique = Ban do dia chat (Reviewed and completed by H. Fontaine), Insets: Quan Dao Hoang Sa (Paracel)-Quan dao Truong Sa (Spratly), scale 1:2,000,000, 99x69 cm (3rd ed.). Dalat (Viet Nam): National Geographic Directorate Viet Nam.
  7. Fontaine, Henri (1972). "Remarque sur des formation littorals quaternaires du Centre Viet Nam méridional" [Note on quaternary exposures along seashore in Central Viet Nam]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (15): 73–104.
  8. Fontaine, Henri; Délibrias, G. (1974). "Niveaux marins pendant le Quaternaire au Viet Nam" [Quaternary sea levels in Viet Nam]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (17): 35–44.
  9. Fontaine, Henri (1968). "Note sur le Golfe de Thailande" [Note on the Gulf of Thailand]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (11): 119–147.
  10. Fontaine, Henri; Hoang, Thi Than (1971). "Alluvions anciennes du Nam Phân septentrional" [Ancient alluvium of the northern part of South Viet Nam]. Archives Géologiques du Viet Nam (in French). Saigon (14): 145–168.
  11. Fontaine, Henri (1975). "Nouvelles récoltes d'objets préhistoriques" [Prehistoric artifacts newly collected]. Bulletin de la Société des Études Indochinoises. Nouvelle Série (in French). Saigon. 50 (1): 75–136.
  12. Fontaine, Henri (1971). "Renseignements nouveaux sur la céramique du champ de jarres funéraires de Dâu Giây" [New data on the ceramic from the burial jars area of Dâu Giây]. Bulletin de la Société des Études Indochinoises. Nouvelle Série (in French). Saigon. 46 (3): 323–336.
  13. Fontaine, Henri; Davidson, J.H.C.S. (1980). "The archaeological site of Hoa Vinh near Phan Thiêt, Central Viet Nam". Asian Perspectives. Honolulu. 23 (1): 71–98.
  14. Fontaine, Henri (1972). "Nouveau champ de jarres dans la Province de Long Khanh" [New area with burial jars in Long Khanh Province]. Bulletin de la Société des Études Indochinoises. Nouvelle Série (in French). Saigon. 47 (3): 397–486.
  15. Fontaine, Henri; Hoang, Thi Than (1975). "Nouvelle note sur le champ de jarres funéraires de Phu Hoa, avec une Remarque sur la cremation au Viet Nam" [New data on the burial jars area of Phu Hoa with a note on the cremation in Viet Nam]. Bulletin de la Société des Études Indochinoises. Nouvelle Série (in French). Saigon. 50 (1): 7–73.
  16. Fontaine, Henri (1980). "On the extent of the Sa Huynh Culture in continental Southeast Asia". Asian Perspectives. Honolulu. 23 (1): 67–69..
  17. "Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia". www.ccop.or.th. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  18. Fontaine, Henri (1990). Ten years of CCOP Research on the pre-Tertiary of East Asia. CCOP Technical Publications (20), 375p.. Bangkok.
  19. "La longue et riche vie scientifique du père Henri Fontaine (1924-2020)". Missions Étrangères de Paris (in French). Retrieved 2020-12-22.
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