Souphanouvong

Souphanouvong
1st President of Laos
In office 2 December, 1975 – 15 August 1991
Prime Minister	Kaysone Phomvihane
Succeeded by	Phoumi Vongvichit
Personal details
Born	July 13 1909 (1909-07-13) Luang Phrabang, Laos
Died	January 9, 1995 (1995-01-10) (aged 85) Vientiane
Political party	PPPL
Spouse	Viengkham Souphanouvong

Prince Souphanouvong (July 13, 1909 - January 9, 1995) was, along with his half-brother Prince Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak, one of the “Three Princes” who represented respectively the communist (pro-Vietnam), neutralist, and royalist political factions in Laos. He was the figurehead President of Laos from December 1975 to August 1991.

Souphanouvong was one of the sons of Prince Bounkhong, the last vice-king of Luang Prabang. Unlike his half-brothers, Souvanna Phouma and Phetsarath, whose mothers were of royal birth, his mother was a commoner, Mom Kham Ouane.

Educated in France and Vietnam, he eventually became a supporter of Ho Chi Minh and joined the Indochinese communist movement.

Nicknamed “The Red Prince”, he became the figurehead leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and upon its successful seizure of power in 1975, he became the first President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. After 1986, Phoumi Vongvichit was Acting President, and when strongman Kaysone Phomvihane decided to establish an executive presidency in 1991, Souphanouvong was relieved of even an inactive-figurehead role. He remained on the Central Committee and Politburo of the LPRP until Fifth Party Congress in March 1991.

He is said to have been the most talented of Bounkhong’s sons, mastering eight languages, including Greek and Latin. He worked on the ports of Le Havre before taking his engineering degree from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.

External links

• Souphanouvong, "Red Prince" of Laos, dies aged 86
• Souphanouvong's photo