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Bordelais... " André Guibaut (1904–1966 and Louis Liotard (1904–1940)
Born in the same year, André Guibaut and Louis Liotard met in the merchant marine. One was from a modest Bordeaux family, the other a Parisian, son of an African explorer and himself a friend of the famous explorer Brazza. It was their mutual love of adventure and their thirst for travel that took them to Asia. Their goal: to fill in a blank space on the map; to attempt to reconnoiter the unexplored territories of the far reaches of China, Tibet and Burma.
For two years they assiduously attended the courses given by Paul Rivet at the Institut d’Ethnologie, by Emmanuel de Mortonne at the Institut de Géographie as well as those taught by Paul Pelliot and Jacques Bacot. In 1936, under the patronage of the Société de Géographie and the Musée de l’Homme ......
The spring of 1940 saw a debacle in both France and China, where Japanese had resumed their bombardments. Guibaut and Liotard nevertheless set out on a second expedition, this time to explore the bend of the Yellow River, home of the Ngolo-Seta, Tibetan nomads with a reputation as dangerous bandits. From Tatsienlu, where they met Alexandra David-Néel, the two explorers set a northerly route towards the Bayen Khara mountains. Following the slow pace of their yaks, stopping to watch the masked dances performed in the monastery courtyards, the little caravan came to the high plateau covered in short grass, the habitat of the nomadic herders. There, on 10 September 1940, they fell into an ambush. Liotard and the expedition’s Chinese cook were killed, and the caravan wiped out.
A few weeks later, Guibaut reached Tatsienlu. When he had recovered, he placed himself at the disposal of General De Gaulle, who appointed him to the post of delegate for the Comité National Français in China. Immediately after the war, he published a book dedicated to his companion, relating their adventures in Tibet : Ngolo-Setas, 1947 (Tibetan Venture in the Country of the Ngolo-Setas. Second Guibaut-Liotard Expedition, 1949). His diplomatic career as consul general and ambassador took him from Singapore to Amman, and from Laos to Italy via Morocco and Ceylon. Liotard, whose body was left in the mountain pass where he was assassinated, was awarded the Legion of Honor posthumously."
hal.archives-ouvertes.fr  Laurent Laloup le samedi 12 juillet 2008 Contribution au livre ouvert de André Justin Guibaut | |
