French industrialist and art collector. Émile Étienne Guimet was a passionate traveller who had visited various countries in the Mediterranean, among them Egypt in 1865 and Turkey in 1868, before embarking for Japan, China, and India in 1876 on behalf of the French minister of public instruction to study the religions of the Far East. During his journeys, Guimet gathered a collection of mainly religious artefacts, which he integrated into the collection of the Musée Guimet, founded in Lyon in 1879.

Galliano, G. (ed.) (2012). Un jour, j'achetai une moumie. Émile Guimet et l'Égypte antique. Éditions Hazan.