Dr Thierry Mathou is both a career diplomat in the French diplomatic service and a scholar specialized in Himalayan studies.
He started his diplomatic career in 1989 at the French Embassy in Washington, DC. In 1993, he was assigned to the French Embassy in Beijing. In 1996, he was posted at the Department of European Affairs of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, where he dealt mainly with multilateral trade issues and EU-Asia relations. An Asian Affairs specialist, he was assigned three times to China (Beijing and Shanghai), where he spent eleven years and held several positions, including that of Consul General in Shanghai (2006-2010) during the 2010 World Expo. He also served as Deputy Director of the Department for International Economic and Financial Affairs at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2006. From 2011 to 2015, he was posted as Ambassador of France to Myanmar. From 2015 to 2017, he served as Ambassador of France to the Philippines, based in Manila, with concurrent accreditation to Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. He was appointed Director General for Asia and Oceania at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in August 2017. In this capacity he drafted the blueprint of France’s Indo-Pacific strategy and spearheaded its implementation. He also launched France’s candidacy for development partner of ASEAN. From 2020 to 2023, he was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand and Permanent Representative of France to the Economic and Social Commission of the United Nations for Asia and the Pacific. In September 2023, Dr Thierry Mathou was appointed Ambassador of France to the Republic of India.
As a scholar, Dr Mathou’s main focus is the geopolitics and political sociology of the Himalayan region. He is a noted specialist in Bhutan studies. His PhD thesis characterized Bhutan as a special case in the field of transitology (study of political transition processes), advancing the notion of “catalytic transition” (change in continuity) which differentiates political and institutional changes in Bhutan from the two main transitional (structuralist and voluntarist) models. His interest in this context lies in the development of the Bhutanese monarchy in its articulation with Buddhist tradition, the development of the nation-state, and the emergence of a national ideology forged around the concept of “Gross National Happiness”. Dr Mathou has been involved in many academic projects in this country, and written several articles and books on Bhutan, including the co-authored book, “The Bodhisattva King, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck”. He also initiated the Tashi Gomang project under the royal patronage of Her Majesty the Queen Grand-Mother of Bhutan. Gyalyum Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck to preserve and promote the tradition of Tashi Gomang, the miniature portable altars that are unique to Bhutan. Dr Mathou is currently working on the history of the Dorji family of Bhutan. He has been an associated political scientist at the Department of Himalayan Studies of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, since 1989. (https://himalaya.cnrs.fr/spip3/spip.php?article487)
Dr Thierry Mathou holds degrees from “Ecole de Hautes Etudes Commerciales”, France, (MBA, 1985), Manchester Business School, UK, (MBA, 1985), and Institute of Political Studies, Paris, (1988). He obtained his PhD in Political Science and Asian Studies in Paris in 1994. He is fluent in several Asian languages, including Chinese. Born in 1963, he is married to Cécile Lakodey Mathou, and has three children: Alexandra, François, Charles. Dr Thierry Mathou is Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic, and Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant of the Kingdom of Thailand.