An early proponent of what came to be called Celtomania, he was the founder of the Celtic Academy, the forerunner of the Societé des Antiquaires de France.

He embraced the French Revolution, and was appointed to various governmental positions, including district attorney for the Lorient commune in 1792.

[1] In 1794 he became Commissioner for Science and Arts and embarked upon a journey in Brittany to visit the depots of confiscated nobility properties and the monasteries, which he published a report about in 1799.

"[7] His Monumens celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des pierres (1805) is especially notable as an important work on Celtic monuments and megaliths in France and on druidism in general;[8] Cambry dedicated the book to Napoleon, and "promoted a nationalist view of Breton megalithic monuments.

[11] His 1799 Rapport sur les sépultures accompanied the design by architect Jacques Molinos, and was inspired by an essay competition proposed a few years before by the National Institute of Sciences and Arts on how to deal with burial in post-Revolutionary France.