Souvanna Phouma (redirected from Prince Souvanna Phouma)

Souvanna Phouma

(born Oct. 7, 1901, Luang Prabang, Laos—died Jan. 10, 1984, Vientiane) Premier of Laos (1951–54, 1960, 1962, 1974–75). Nephew of King Sisavangvong of Laos, Souvanna did not support his uncle's decision to welcome back French rule after the end of World War II. With his half brother Souphanouvong, he joined the Free Laos movement and went into exile when the French reoccupied Laos. In 1949, when the French began to concede authority, he returned, and in 1951 he began his first term as premier. Civil war broke out between the communist Pathet Lao and rightist members of the government; Souvanna served as premier sporadically during that period. He tried to maintain Laotian neutrality during the Vietnam War but came to depend on U.S. military aid; Laos stabilized after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. Souvanna remained an adviser to the government until his death.

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Souvanna Phouma 

Born Oct. 7, 1901, in Luang Prabang. Laotian political figure. Prince.

Souvanna Phouma was prime minister in the government of the kingdom of Laos three times: 1951–54, 1956–58, and 1960–62. After the conclusion of the Geneva Agreements of 1954, he sought a political settlement in Laos by way of an agreement with the patriotic forces of the Free Lao Front (Neo Lao Issara), which was succeeded in 1956 by the Patriotic Front of Laos (Neo Lao Hak Sat). In 1962, Souvanna Phouma became prime minister of the provisional coalition government, the government of national unity, which signed the Geneva Agreements of 1962 on Laos. The coalition fell apart in 1963–64, and Souvanna Phouma became prime minister of the king’s government in the Vientiane zone. His negotiations in 1972–73 with the Patriotic Front of Laos resulted in the Vientiane Agreement on Restoring Peace and Achieving National Concord, signed on Feb. 21, 1973, and the protocol to the agreement, signed on Sept. 14, 1973. From April 1974 to December 1975, Souvanna Phouma headed a provisional government of national unity. In December 1975 he became an adviser to the prime minister of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos.

K. IUR’EV