Prince Souphanouvong

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Souphanouvong Tiao, Prince (b. 13 July 1909, d. 9 Jan 1995). President of the Laos People's Democratic Republic 1975–86 One of the nephews of King Sisavang Vong (r. 1904–59), he studied engineering in Paris and then worked as an engineer in Laos 1938–45. Upon the Japanese surrender in 1945, he agreed to become head of a Communist movement against the French colonial forces, with the strong support of Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh forces. Disunity with the leadership of other anti-French movements led him to create the Pathet Lao, and to engage independently in the anti-colonial struggle. Following Laotian independence after the Geneva Agreements of 1954, he joined the two short-lived coalition governments of his half-brother Souvanna Phouma (1957, 1962), in an effort to resolve peacefully the differences between the various factions. After repeated arguments, he resumed the fight against Souvanna Phouma, with the help of the Vietnamese Vietcong. He led the Pathet Lao into a coalition government in 1974, though without taking up a government post himself. It was the fall of Saigon and Communist victory in the Vietnam War that enabled him to take over government in 1975, and declare the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. He consolidated his power with Vietnamese help, in return for which he found himself more dependent on Hanoi's counsel than he wished. He was forced to retire through ill health.

Prince Souphanouvong , 1909–95, Laotian government official; half brother of Prince Souvanna Phouma . Although a member of Laos's royal family, he was an active nationalist and fought the French as a member of the pro-Communist Pathet Lao . After Laos gained independence, he joined (1958) a coalition cabinet. Arrested after rightists took power in 1959, he escaped in 1960 to lead the Pathet Lao forces in opposition. He was a Pathet Lao delegate to the Geneva Conference on Laos (1961–62), and in the resulting coalition government he was vice premier and minister of economic planning. When the coalition fell to renewed fighting (1963), Souphanouvong rejoined the Pathet Lao. In 1973, an agreement was reached with Souvanna Phouma ending the fighting, and a new coalition government was formed (1974) with Souphanouvong heading an advisory body. When the Pathet Lao came to power as a result of the North Vietnamese victory in Vietnam in 1975, Souphanouvong became president of Laos. He resigned in 1986.