Nouhak Phoumsavanh

2024-11-26T14:02:42Z

2600:1006:A132:6C89:F0F2:A1E4:C256:F8A: What?

{{Short description|Laotian revolutionary and politician who served as President of Laos from 1992 to 1998}}
{{Infobox President
| name = Nouhak Phoumsavanh
| native_name = {{nobold|ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ}}
| image = Nouhak Phoumsavanh LARGE.jpg
| caption =
| office1 = 3rd [[President of Laos]]
| term_start1 = 25 November 1992
| term_end1 = 24 February 1998
| primeminister1 = [[Khamtay Siphandon]]
| vicepresident1 = [[Sisavath Keobounphanh]]
| predecessor1 = [[Kaysone Phomvihane]]
| successor1 = [[Khamtai Siphandon]]
| office2 = [[President of the National Assembly of Laos|President]] of the [[National Assembly (Laos)|National Assembly of Laos]]
| convocation2 = [[2nd National Assembly of Laos|2nd term]]
| term_start2 = 1 June 1989
| term_end2 = 25 November 1992
| predecessor2 = [[Sisomphon Lovansay]] (acting)
| successor2 = [[Samane Vignaket]]
| office3 = [[Deputy Prime Minister of Laos]]
| convocation3 = [[1st Government of Laos|1st term]]
| primeminister3 = [[Kaysone Phomvihane]]
| term_start3 = 2 December 1975
| term_end3 = January 1982
| alongside3 = [[Phoumi Vongvichit]], [[Phoun Sipaseut]] and [[Khamtai Siphandon]]
| office4 = [[Ministry of Finance (Laos)|Minister of Finance]]
| convocation4 = [[1st Government of Laos|1st term]]
| primeminister4 = [[Kaysone Phomvihane]]
| term_start4 = 2 December 1975
| term_end4 = 1983
| predecessor4 = ''Post established''
| successor4 = [[Yao Phonvantha]]
| office5 = Head of the [[Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party|LPRP Central Committee]] [[Organisation Commission of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party|Organisation Commission]]
| convocation5 = [[1st Central Committee of the Lao People's Party|1st term]]
| 1blankname5 = General Secretary
| 1namedata5 = [[Kaysone Phomvihane]]
| term_start5 = 1964
| term_end5 = 1972
| predecessor5 = [[Sisomphone Lovansay]]
| successor5 = Sisomphone Lovansay
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|4|9|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Mukdahan Province|Mukdahan]], [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Siam]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|9|9|1910|4|9|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Vientiane]], [[Laos]]
| party = [[Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
| native_name_lang = lo
}}

'''Nouhak Phoumsavanh''' or '''Phoumsavan''' ({{langx|lo|ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ}}; {{langx|th|หนูฮัก พูมสะหวัน}}; 9 April 1910<ref>{{cite web |title=ທ່ານ ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ |url=http://po.gov.la/lo/2018/11/12/%e0%ba%97%e0%bb%88%e0%ba%b2%e0%ba%99-%e0%bb%9c%e0%ba%b9%e0%ba%ae%e0%ba%b1%e0%ba%81-%e0%ba%9e%e0%ba%b9%e0%ba%a1%e0%ba%aa%e0%ba%b0%e0%ba%ab%e0%ba%a7%e0%ba%b1%e0%ba%99/ |website=ເວັບໄຊທ໌ຫ້ອງວ່າການປະທານປະເທດ |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>– 9 September 2008) was a longtime [[Pathet Lao]] [[revolution]]ary and [[Lao People's Revolutionary Party|communist party]] official who was the 3rd [[President of Laos]] from 1992 to 1998.<ref name=DPA>[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/230745,lao-former-president-nouhak-phoumsavanh-dies-at-94.html "Lao former president Nouhak Phoumsavanh dies at 94"], DPA, September 10, 2008.</ref>

==Life ==
Nouhak was born in [[Ban Phalouka]] in [[Mukdahan Province]], [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Siam]] (now [[Thailand]]) in 1910, according to official sources,<ref name=Bio>[http://www.kplnet.net/english/news/edn13.htm "Biography of Comrade Nouhak Phoumsavanh"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828095330/http://www.kplnet.net./english/news/edn13.htm |date=2008-08-28 }}, Lao News Agency.</ref> although his year of birth has also been given as 1914.<ref name=DPA/> 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.

==Political career==
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 [[1st Congress of the Lao People's Party|founding congress of the Lao People's Party]] (later renamed the [[Lao People's Revolutionary Party]], LPRP) in 1955 and was elected as the second-ranking member of its [[Central Committee of the Lao People's Party|Central Committee]] (Deputy Director of the Central Committee).<ref name=Bio/>

Nouhak was subsequently the secretary of the Lao People's Party cell in [[Vientiane]], the capital, and was a member of the [[National Assembly of Laos|National Assembly]] in 1958. He was arrested in 1959<ref name=Bio/> and spent a year in prison in Vientiane before escaping along with [[Souphanouvong]].<ref name=DPA/> 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]] was ongoing. He was elected to the [[Politburo of the Lao People's Party|Politburo]] at the LPRP's [[2nd Congress of the Lao People's Party|2nd Congress]] in February 1972 and was assigned responsibility for economic affairs.<ref name=Bio/>

When the Pathet Lao took power in December 1975,<ref name=DPA/> Nouhak was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister<ref name=Bio/> and [[Minister of Finance of Laos|Minister of Finance]].<ref name=Bio/><ref name=DPA/> For years, he was considered "Number 2" in the leadership under Prime Minister [[Kaysone Phomvihane]].<ref name=DPA/> 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 National Assembly of Laos|President of the Supreme People's Assembly]] in the same year.<ref name="nationalassembly">[http://www.na.gov.la/index.php?r=site/detailcontent&id=85&left=196 Speakers]</ref> Also in 1989, he was chosen as chairman of the commission charged with [[Constitution of Laos#Development of the 1991 constitution|drafting a new constitution]],<ref name=Bio/> 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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} After Kaysone's death,<ref name=DPA/> Nouhak was elected to succeed him as President of Laos by the Supreme People's Assembly in an extraordinary session on November 25, 1992.<ref name=Bio/>

Despite the presidency's executive powers, Prime Minister [[Khamtai Siphandon]] 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,{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} leaving office on 24 February 1998.<ref name=Bio/>

Nouhak remained on the Central Committee and Politburo of the LPRP until the party's [[6th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party|6th Congress]] in 1996. At the 6th Congress in 1996 and the [[7th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party|7th Congress]] in 2001, he was named as Adviser to the Central Committee's Executive Committee.<ref name=Bio/> 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.<ref name=DPA/>

== Later life ==
Nouhak died on 9 September 2008 at the age of 98.<ref name=DPA/><ref name=Dies>[http://www.kplnet.net/english/news/edn1.htm "Former President Nouhak Phoumsavanh passes away"], Lao News Agency.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/world/asia/13nouhak.html|title = Nouhak Phoumsavanh, Former President of Laos, Dies at 98|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 12 September 2008}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Dies/> 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.<ref>[http://www.kplnet.net/english/news/edn2.htm "National mourning for Mr. Nouhak Phoumsavah"], Lao News Agency.</ref> He was [[cremation|cremated]] in Vientiane on 14 September.<ref name=Dies/>

In 2011, a memorial honoring him was erected at his birthplace in Mukdahan Province.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mgronline.com/indochina/detail/9540000113527|title=ลาวข้ามโขงสร้างอนุสรณ์ "หนูฮัก พูมสะหวัน" ในมุกดาหารบ้านเกิด|newspaper=MGR Online|date=2011-09-07|access-date=2024-02-25}}</ref>

==Honour==
* Soviet Union : [[Order of the October Revolution]] (1984)
* Spain : Collar of the [[Order of Civil Merit (Spain)|Order of Civil Merit]] (1995)
* Thailand : Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the [[Order of the White Elephant]] (1995)
* Argentina : Collar of the [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín]] (1996)
* Norway : Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of St. Olav]] (1997)

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{succession box|title=[[President of Laos]]|before=[[Kaysone Phomvihane]]|after=[[Khamtai Siphandon]]|years=1992–1998}}
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{{National Assembly of Laos}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoumsavanh, Nouhak}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Laotian people of Vietnamese descent]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Central Committee of the Lao People's Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 5th Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Secretariat of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Secretariat of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
[[Category:Presidents of Laos]]
[[Category:Presidents of the National Assembly of Laos]]
[[Category:Finance ministers of Laos]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Laos]]
[[Category:People from Mukdahan province|Nouhak Phoumsavanh]]
[[Category:Laotian people of Thai descent|Nouhak Phoumsavanh]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin]]

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Nouhak Phoumsavanh