Henri Metzger comes from a family of Alsatian and Protestant origin. After studying at the
École Normale Supérieure and passing an
agrégation de lettres classiques, he became a member of the
French School at Athens (1938–1939 interrupted by a military assignment in Syria (1940–1945) then at the French Institute of Archaeology in Istanbul (1945-1947). A Doctor in 1950, he completed most of his career at the
University of Lyon (Chair of History of ancient art) (from 1947) and as an associate professor of classical archeology at the
University of Geneva (1961–1968). He was director of the French archaeological mission at
Xanthos and
Letoon, in Lycia (Turkey), from 1962 to 1978. He headed the French Institute of Archaeology in Istanbul from 1975 to 1980 and was elected a member of the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1989 at the seat of Paul Imbs. == Some works ==