One of the pioneers of archaeological research into Sudan from 1953, he was Director of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale from 1977 to 1981.

[1] Born in Lambersart, Nord, Vercoutter attended the Académie Julian to learn about painting, but soon turned to Egyptology.

In 1939, he graduated from the IVe section of the École Pratique des Hautes Études with a thesis on ancient Egyptian funerary objects and was appointed resident of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology of Cairo (IFAO).

[2] Between 1960 and 1964, he concentrated on studying Kor and Aksha, where he had been working in part since 1953, as they were threatened by the construction of the new Aswan Dam.

He is the author of À la recherche de l'Égypte oubliée, first volume of the collection "Découvertes Gallimard", which was a bestseller in France,[4] it has been translated into 22 languages and often reprinted.