Émile Prisse d'Avennes

A self-taught scholar with a fiery temperament, Émile Prisse d'Avennes (also known as Edris-Effendi) was a man of the field rather than the study—an unconventional orientalist who remained outside the official scientific circles of his time, yet left behind an extraordinary legacy.

After beginning his career as a civil engineer in Egypt, Prisse abandoned it entirely to pursue his passion for archaeology. Working at his own expense, he methodically surveyed and excavated sites throughout Egypt, becoming intimately familiar with the country, its language, and its customs through years of dedicated fieldwork.

But Prisse was one of the rare Egyptologists who didn't stop at Pharaonic monuments. His curiosity about Islamic architecture began practically - noticing ancient stones reused in mosques - but blossomed into deep admiration. "The more I advance in the study of the monuments of Cairo, the more I am filled with admiration for Arab artists," he wrote.

Between 1858-1860, funded by the French government, Prisse returned to Egypt with two assistants. For two full years, they drew, engraved, and photographed monuments under difficult conditions, gathering material for his masterwork. Nearly ten years of relentless labor followed to complete L'Art arabe in 1877 - a monumental achievement featuring 175 color lithographed plates that captured the intricate beauty of Islamic art and architecture.

His keen eye identified the rarest decorative elements, and his technical training allowed him to document these treasures with unprecedented precision. Today, his plates provide an invaluable color record of monuments, many of which have since vanished, preserving the work of the Arab artists he so deeply admired.