Collector · Traveller / antiquarian
Léon de Maricourt
fl. 1864–1868 · France
Army officer, active 1864–1868. Excavated at Larnaca-Salines. Child of Louis Dumesnil de Maricourt.
Life and work
- 22 August 1864Left the Saint-Cyr military school (École militaire de Saint-Cyr).
Saint-CyrBonato 2015, p. 309
- 18 September 1864 – 4 October 1864Sailed from Marseille on the Indus (18 Sept) with his uncle Charles, elder brother Georges and wife Louise, and Flavie Vasse de Saint-Ouen; sighted Cyprus 4 Oct.
MarseilleBonato 2015, p. 309
- October 1864 – January 1865Stayed over two months in Cyprus with his father, the French consul; began collecting antiquities, picking them up at Salamis and buying from consulate staff; made modest digs at the Salt Lake near Larnaca, finding only fragments of copper, small effaced coins and sherds in his own words quoted by Bonato.
LarnacaBonato 2015, p. 310
- 13 January 1865Left Cyprus (family had gone to the Holy Land from 2 Nov); reached Rouen 1 Feb 1865.
RouenBonato 2015, p. 309
- 1865Soon after he left, his uncle Charles found a deposit of terracotta figurines at the Salt Lake; the whole family dug there. At Charles's death the nephews divided the collection; Bonato traced about sixty objects through Léon's great-grandchildren and published one terracotta head (Kition throned-goddess cycle), now Collection Maricourt-Wailly.
- 1868Published De Saint-Cyr à Jérusalem. Souvenirs intimes (440 pages, about 153 on Cyprus).
ParisBonato 2015, p. 309
Connections
3 peopleFamily
- Sibling of Georges de Maricourtprobably1864–1865
- Child of Louis Dumesnil de Maricourt1864–1865
Colleagues & contacts
- Connected with Charles de Maricourt1864–1865
Sources
- 1.Lucie Bonato (2015). “De Fénelon à la Grande Déesse de Chypre. Souvenirs de Léon de Maricourt 1864-1865”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 45, 309-316. Online
- 2.L. de Maricourt (1868). De Saint-Cyr à Jérusalem. Souvenirs intimes. Paris.