Souphanouvong, Prince, 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.

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 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