Michel Lorrillard

Biography

Michel Lorrillard is a historian and researcher specialising in Laos from the 6th to the 19th century. After studying history in Strasbourg, then Lao and Khmer at the Langues O’ (INALCO) in Paris, he first came to Laos in 1989, when the French Embassy asked him to inventory thirty years of archives. After completing his doctorate in 1995, he returned to Vientiane as a contract researcher, then in 2000 as director of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) centre in Vientiane, where he remained until 2011. Since 2018, he has once again headed the EFEO centre in Vientiane.

Career

1. 2026

   France–Laos Festival — lecture “An archaeological journey through Laos”

2. 2018

   Heads the EFEO centre in Vientiane once again

3. 2000

   Director of the EFEO centre in Vientiane (until 2011)

4. 1995

   Doctorate; returns to Vientiane as a contract researcher

5. 1989

   First stay in Laos: inventory of thirty years of archives for the French Embassy

Research

The history of Laos from the 6th to the 19th century, and sharing it with the general public.