Norodom Sihanouk family name Norodom
Norodom Sihanouk (; Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ, Nôroŭttâm Seihânŭ  [nɔroːɗɑm səjhanuʔ]; 31 October 1922 – 15 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in various capacities throughout his long career, most often as both King and Prime Minister of Cambodia. In Cambodia, he is known as Samdech Euv (Khmer: សម្តេចឪ, Sâmdéch Âu  [sɑmˈɗac ʔɨw]; meaning "King Father"). During his lifetime, Cambodia was under various regimes, from French colonial rule (until 1953), an independent kingdom (1953–1970), a republic (1970–1975), the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979), another communist regime (1979–1989), yet another different communist state (1989–1993) to finally another kingdom (since 1993).
Sihanouk was the only child of Prince Norodom Suramarit and Princess Sisowath Kossamak, daughter of King Sisowath Monivong. When his grandfather Monivong died in 1941, Sihanouk became king amidst French colonial rule. After the Japanese occupation of Cambodia during World War II, he secured Cambodian independence from France in 1953. He abdicated in 1955 and was succeeded by his father, Suramarit, so as to directly participate in politics. Sihanouk's political organization Sangkum won the general elections that year and he became prime minister of Cambodia. He governed the country under one-party rule and suppressed political dissent. After his father died in 1960, Sihanouk assumed a new position as Head of State of Cambodia.
Officially neutral in foreign relations, Sihanouk was closer to the communist bloc in practice. The Cambodian coup of 1970 ousted him and he fled to China and North Korea, forming a government-in-exile and a resistance movement there. He encouraged Cambodians to fight the new government and backed the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Civil War. He returned as figurehead head of state after the Khmer Rouge's victory in 1975. His relations with the new government soured and in 1976 he resigned. He was placed under house arrest until Vietnamese forces overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Sihanouk went into exile again and in 1981 formed FUNCINPEC, a resistance party. The following year, he became president of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), a broad coalition of anti-Vietnamese resistance factions which retained Cambodia's seat at the United Nations, making him Cambodia's internationally recognized head of state. In the late 1980s, informal talks were carried out to end hostilities between the Vietnam-supported People's Republic of Kampuchea and the CGDK. In 1990, the Supreme National Council of Cambodia was formed as a transitional body to oversee Cambodia's sovereign matters, with Sihanouk as its president. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords were signed and the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was established the following year. The UNTAC organized the 1993 Cambodian general elections, and a coalition government, jointly led by his son Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, was subsequently formed. Sihanouk was reinstated as Cambodia's king. He abdicated again in 2004 and the Royal Council of the Throne chose his son Sihamoni as his successor. Sihanouk died in Beijing in 2012.
Between 1941 and 2006, Sihanouk produced and directed 50 films, some of which he acted in. The films, later described as being of low quality, often featured nationalistic elements, as did a number of the songs he wrote. Some of his songs were about his wife Monique, the nations neighboring Cambodia, and the communist leaders who supported him in his exile. In the 1980s Sihanouk held concerts for diplomats in New York City. He also participated in concerts at his palace during his second reign. Sihanouk is remembered for his role in shaping modern Cambodia, particularly in leading the country to independence, although his reputation was damaged by his association with the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.Early life and first reign
Norodom Sihanouk was the only child born of the union between Norodom Suramarit and Sisowath Kossamak. His parents, who heeded the Royal Court Astrologer's advice that he risked dying at a young age if he was raised under parental care, placed him under the care of Kossamak's grandmother, Pat. When Pat died, Kossamak brought Sihanouk to live with his paternal grandfather, Norodom Sutharot. Sutharot delegated parenting responsibilities to his daughter, Norodom Ket Kanyamom.Sihanouk received his primary education at the François Baudoin school and Nuon Moniram school in Phnom Penh. During this time, he received financial support from his maternal grandfather, Sisowath Monivong, to head an amateur performance troupe and soccer team. In 1936, Sihanouk was sent to Saigon, where he pursued his secondary education at Lycée Chasseloup Laubat, a boarding school.When the reigning king Monivong died on 23 April 1941 the Governor-General of French Indochina, Jean Decoux, chose Sihanouk to succeed him. Sihanouk's appointment as king was formalised the following day by the Cambodian Crown Council, and his coronation ceremony took place on 3 May 1941. During the Japanese occupation of Cambodia, he dedicated most of his time to sports, filming, and the occasional tour to the countryside. In March 1945 the Japanese military, which had occupied Cambodia since August 1941, dissolved the nominal French colonial administration. Under pressure from the Japanese, Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence and assumed the position of prime minister while serving as king at the same time.Second reign
Monarchical restoration and political influence
The new constitution came into force on 24 September 1993, and Sihanouk was reinstated as the King of Cambodia. A permanent coalition government was formed between FUNCINPEC, CPP and a third political party, the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP). In turn, Sihanouk made Ranariddh and Hun Sen First and Second Prime Ministers, respectively. Shortly after that, Sihanouk left for Beijing, where he spent several months for cancer treatment. In April 1994, Sihanouk returned and the following month called the government to hold new elections so that the Khmer Rouge could be co-opted into the government.
Both Ranariddh and Hun Sen rejected his suggestion, but Sihanouk pressed on, and further proposed a national unity government consisting of FUNCINPEC, CPP, and the Khmer Rouge headed by him. Again, both prime ministers rejected Sihanouk's proposal, arguing that Khmer Rouge's past intransigent attitude made the proposal unrealistic. Sihanouk backed down, and expressed frustration that Hun Sen and Ranariddh had been ignoring him. As both Norodom Sirivudh and Julio Jeldres, his younger half-brother and official biographer, respectively, saw it, this was a clear sign that the monarchy's ability to exert control over national affairs had diminished, at least vis-a-vis the prime ministers.In July 1994, one of his sons, Norodom Chakrapong, led a failed coup attempt to topple the government. Following the coup attempt, Chakrapong took refuge in a hotel in Phnom Penh, but government troops soon discovered his hideout and surrounded the hotel. Chakrapong called Sihanouk, who negotiated with government representatives to allow him to go into exile in Malaysia. The following November, Sirivudh was accused of plotting to assassinate Hun Sen and imprisoned. Sihanouk intervened to have Sirivudh detained at the interior ministry's headquarters, convinced that there was a secret plan to kill the latter if he were to remain in prison. After Sirivudh was relocated to the safer location, Sihanouk appealed to Hun Sen that Sirivudh be allowed to go into exile in France together with his family. Subsequently, Hun Sen accepted his offer.Relations between the two co-prime ministers, Ranariddh and Hun Sen, deteriorated from March 1996, when the former accused the CPP of repeatedly delaying the allocation process of low-level government posts to FUNCINPECs. Ranariddh threatened to pull out of the coalition government and hold national elections in the same year if his demands were not met, stoking unease among Hun Sen and other CPP officials. The following month, Sihanouk presided over a meeting between several royal family members and senior FUNCINPEC officials in Paris. Sihanouk attempted to reduce tensions between FUNCINPEC and the CPP by assuring that FUNCINPEC would not leave the coalition government and that there were no reactionary elements planning to bring down Hun Sen or the CPP.In March 1997, Sihanouk expressed his willingness to abdicate the throne, claiming that rising anti-royalist sentiment among the populace was threatening the monarchy's existence. In response, Hun Sen tersely warned Sihanouk that he would introduce constitutional amendments to prohibit members of the royal family from participating in politics if he followed through on his suggestion. As Widyono saw it, Sihanouk remained popular with the Cambodian electorate, and Hun Sen feared that, should he abdicate and enter politics, he would win in any future elections, thereby undercutting CPP's political clout.In July 1997, violent clashes erupted in Phnom Penh between infantry forces separately allied to the CPP and FUNCINPEC, which effectively led to Ranariddh's ousting after FUNCINPEC forces were defeated. Sihanouk voiced displeasure with Hun Sen for orchestrating the clashes, but refrained from calling Ranariddh's ouster a "coup d'état", a term which FUNCINPEC members used. When the National Assembly elected Ung Huot as the First Prime Minister to replace Ranariddh on 6 August 1997, Sihanouk charged that Ranariddh's ouster was illegal and renewed his offer to abdicate the throne, a plan which did not materialize.In September 1998, Sihanouk meditated political talks in Siem Reap after the FUNCINPEC and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) staged protests against the CPP-led government for irregularities over the 1998 general elections. The talks broke down at the end of the month after Hun Sen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, which he accused Sam Rainsy of masterminding. Two months later, in November 1998, Sihanouk brokered a second round of political talks between the CPP and FUNCINPEC whereby an agreement was reached for another coalition government between the CPP and FUNCINPEC.Titles and styles
Sihanouk was known by many formal and informal titles throughout his lifetime, and as aforementioned, the Guinness Book of World Records identifies Sihanouk as the royal who had served the greatest variety of state and political offices. When Sihanouk became king in 1941, he was bestowed with the official title of "Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Varman" (ព្រះបាទសម្តេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ វរ្ម័ន), which he used for both reigns between 1941 and 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He reverted to the title of Prince after he abdicated 1955, and in that year was given by his father and successor the title of "Samdech Preah Upayuvareach" (សម្តេចព្រះឧបយុវរាជ), which translates in English as "The Prince who has been King". Starting from the early 1960s when he became the Head of State, Sihanouk was affectionately known to most Cambodians as "Samdech Euv" (សម្តេចឪ), which translates as the "Prince Father" in English.In 2004, after his second abdication, Sihanouk became known as the King Father of Cambodia, with the official title of "Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdach Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat" (Khmer: ព្រះករុណាព្រះបាទសម្តេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ). He was also referred to by another honorific, "His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk The Great Heroic King King-Father of Khmer independence, territorial integrity and national unity" (ព្រះករុណា ព្រះបាទសម្ដេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ ព្រះវររាជបិតាឯករាជ្យ បូរណភាពទឹកដី និងឯកភាពជាតិខ្មែរ).At the same time, he issued a royal decree requesting to be called "Samdech Ta" (សម្ដេចតា) or "Samdech Ta-tuot" (សម្ដេចតាទួត), which translates as "Grandfather" and "Great-grandfather", respectively, in English. When Sihanouk died in October 2012, he was bestowed by his son Sihamoni with the posthumous title of "Preah Karuna Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preah Borom Ratanakkot" (ព្រះករុណាព្រះនរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ), which literally translates as "The King who lies in the Diamond Urn" in English.
surname last name patronymic family surname clan name