Nouhak Phoumsavanh or Phoumsavan ( lo, ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ; th, หนูฮัก พูมสะหวัน; 9 April 1910– 9 September 2008) was a longtime

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao ( lo, ປະເທດລາວ, translit=Pa thēt Lāo, translation=Lao Nation), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The gro ...

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

ary and

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

official who was the 3rd

President of Laos The president of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is the head of state of Laos. The current president is Thongloun Sisoulith, since 22 March 2021. He was previously elected as the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, ...

from 1992 to 1998."Lao former president Nouhak Phoumsavanh dies at 94"
DPA, September 10, 2008.

Life and career

Nouhak was born in Ban Phalouka in Mukdahan Province, Siam (now

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

) in 1910, according to official sources,"Biography of Comrade Nouhak Phoumsavanh"
, Lao News Agency. although his year of birth has also been given as 1914. He married his first wife, Chanthome, in 1933 and they had four children, Phouthone, Phonesavanh, Khankeo and a son. He later remarried in 1944 to Bounema, who was of Vietnamese descent. He was a founding member of the Lao revolutionary movement in 1945, and he became Chairman of the Lao Resistance Committee for the Eastern Region in 1949. In the Lao Resistance Government, he was named Minister of Finance in 1950. He participated in the founding congress of the Lao People's Party (later renamed the

Lao People's Revolutionary Party The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The party's monopoly on state power is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Constitution of Laos, and it maintains a unitary ...

, LPRP) in 1955 and was elected as the second-ranking member of its

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

(Deputy Director of the Central Committee). Nouhak was subsequently the secretary of the Lao People's Party cell in

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

, the capital, and was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in 1958. He was arrested in 1959 and spent a year in prison in Vientiane before escaping along with

Souphanouvong Prince Souphanouvong (13 July 1909 – 9 January 1995; ), nicknamed the Red Prince, 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 (p ...

. He was then secretary of the party cell in Khangkhay and had important roles in the party during the 1960s and 1970s, while the

Laotian Civil War The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos which was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War ...

was ongoing. He was elected to the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

at the LPRP's 2nd Congress in February 1972 and was assigned responsibility for economic affairs. When the Pathet Lao took power in December 1975, Nouhak was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. For years, he was considered "Number 2" in the leadership under Prime Minister

Kaysone Phomvihane Kaysone Phomvihane ( lo, ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ; 13 December 1920 – 21 November 1992) was the first leader of the Communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955 until his death in 1992. After the Communists seized po ...

. He was elected as First Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers in April 1982, then as a standing member of the Council of Ministers in charge of economic affairs in November 1986. Nouhak was subsequently elected to the Supreme People's Assembly in 1989 and became President of the Supreme People's Assembly in the same year.Speakers
/ref> Also in 1989, he was chosen as chairman of the commission charged with drafting a new constitution, which was adopted in 1991. With the adoption of this constitution, Kaysone assumed the presidency, which was transformed from a ceremonial to an executive position. After Kaysone's death, Nouhak was elected to succeed him as President of Laos by the Supreme People's Assembly in an extraordinary session on November 25, 1992. Despite the presidency's executive powers, Prime Minister

Khamtai Siphandon General Khamtai Siphandone ( lo, ຄຳໄຕ ສີພັນດອນ; born 8 February 1924)Joseph Chinyong Liow''Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia''(fourth edition, 2015), Routledge, page 212. is a Laotian politician who was ...

held the country's most powerful position as General Secretary of the LPRP. When Khamtai decided to move from Prime Minister to President in 1998, Nouhak, who was by then one of the oldest heads of state in the world, retired, leaving office on 24 February 1998. Nouhak remained on the Central Committee and Politburo of the LPRP until the party's 6th Congress in 1996. At the 6th Congress in 1996 and the 7th Congress in 2001, he was named as Adviser to the Central Committee's Executive Committee. He reportedly remained in good health throughout his old age, and he was said to have continued making visits to the provinces by helicopter until 2007. He died on 9 September 2008 at the age of 98."Former President Nouhak Phoumsavanh passes away"
Lao News Agency. The state news agency attributed his death simply to "old age", while noting that he had received medical treatment both in Laos and outside the country. A committee of 26 members, including leading party and state figures (with President Choummaly Sayasone as its chairman), was formed to organize his funeral, and a five-day national mourning period was declared for 10–14 September, during which time all entertainment was prohibited."National mourning for Mr. Nouhak Phoumsavah"
Lao News Agency. He was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

in Vientiane on 14 September.

References

Nouhak Phoumsavanh Nouhak Phoumsavanh or Phoumsavan ( lo, ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ; th, หนูฮัก พูมสะหวัน; 9 April 1910– 9 September 2008) was a longtime Pathet Lao revolutionary and communist party official who wa ...