Consul / diplomat · Excavator
Vicomte Eugène de Castillon de Saint-Victor
fl. 1881–2002 · France
French consul in Cyprus who dug in the Kourion necropoleis in 1886-87 to test Cesnola's claims; the finds went to the Louvre, with some jewellery and glass allotted to the Cyprus Museum.
Biography
In 1886 the Vicomte Eugène de Castillon de Saint-Victor, French consul in Cyprus, dug tombs at Kourion to check the underground chambers that Luigi Palma di Cesnola had claimed for his "Curium Treasure"1. Schmid gives his consulship as 1885 to 1889; his application for a permit was written on consulate stationery and shows the permission came from either the Foreign Ministry or the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts1.
Myres and Ohnefalsch-Richter list the dig as made "for the French Government, on the same site as 1883", the year of the German excavation at Kourion3. Kiely and Merrillees describe brief excavations that opened several tombs with imported Greek fine wares and that he tried to record with some attention to context2. Vandenabeele dates the work 1886 to 1887 and records two figurine-jug finds from his tomb XV, now in the Louvre4. The results went to the Louvre; a series of jewellery (C.M. 4251-3) and some glass (C.M. 2536) were allotted to the Cyprus Museum3. In the same year he bought a Neolithic celt near Episkopi3.
After the Kourion work he proposed further excavation to the École française d'Athènes, which did not follow1. He published a report on the Curium excavations in 18916. His dates of birth and death are not recorded.
Life and work
- 1886Excavated tombs in the Kourion necropoleis for the French Government 'on the same site as 1883'; aimed first at verifying Cesnola's claim of underground chambers (the 'Curium Treasure'). Kiely and Merrillees note he recorded some context and found imported Greek fine wares.
KourionSchmid 2025Myres & Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899Kiely & Merrillees 2012
- 1886–1887Vandenabeele dates his 'excavations' 1886-1887; from his tomb XV came two figurine-jug finds, now in the Louvre.
KourionVandenabeele 2001
- 1886Bought a Neolithic celt near Episkopi (Kourion).
EpiskopiMyres & Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899
- 1886Results placed in the Louvre; a series of jewellery (C.M. 4251-3) and some glass (e.g. C.M. 2536) were allotted to the Cyprus Museum.
- 1886Wrote the permit application on consulate stationery; after the results he proposed further work to the Ecole francaise d'Athenes without result.
Connections
4 peopleFieldwork & employment
- Guided by Theocharis Koutsocheris1886–1887
Scholarship
- Material published by Andrew Oliver1998–2002
- Material published by Diana Buitron1998–2001
Colleagues & contacts
- Connected with Luigi Palma di Cesnola1886
Objects
Fine series of jewellery from the 1886 Kourion dig
From KourionCyprus Museum C.M. 4251-31886Myres & Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899
Glass from the 1886 Kourion dig
From KourionCyprus Museum C.M. 25361886Myres & Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899
Figurine (Vandenabeele 7.A) and Bichrome Red III jug (134.F) with a figure holding an oinochoe, tomb XV
From Kourion, tomb XVMusee du Louvre1886–1887Vandenabeele 2001
Neolithic celt
From near Episkopi1886Myres & Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899
Sources
- 1.Stephan G. Schmid (2025). “Was there an official German interest in the archaeology of Cyprus between 1878 and 1914?”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960, 69-92. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
- 2.T. Kiely, R. S. Merrillees (2012). “The archaeological interests of Samuel Brown, government engineer, and his circle of acquaintances in late nineteenth-century Cyprus”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42, 245-272. Online
- 3.J. L. Myres, M. Ohnefalsch-Richter (1899). A Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
- 4.F. Vandenabeele (2001). “Collecting vases with figurines/protomes in the nineteenth century AD”. Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction, 184-188. Oxford, Oxbow.
- 5.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
- 6.E. de Castillon de Saint-Victor (1891). “Rapport à M. le Ministre de l'Instruction Publique et Beaux-Arts sur les fouilles de Curium”. Nouvelles Archives des Missions scientifiques et littéraires 1, 281-318.
- 7.D. Buitron-Oliver, A. Oliver (2002). “The Vicomte de Castillon Saint-Victor at Kourion”. Essays in honor of Dietrich von Bothmer, 49-58. Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum.