caption father death_date death_place mother birth_place title birth_date signature image article_title name
hrh prince ditsawarakuman , prince damrong rajanubhab king mongkut 1 december 1943 bangkok , thailand consort chum bangkok , thailand prince of siam , prince damrong rajanubhab 21 june 1862 damrong rachanuphap - sign - 001.jpg prince damrong rajanubhab.jpg damrong rajanubhab
 ditsawarakuman
damrong rajanubhab

ditsawarakuman damrong rajanubhab -lrb- ; -rrb- -lrb- 21 june 1862 -- 1 december 1943 -rrb- was the founder of the modern thai education system as well as the modern provincial administration .
he was also an autodidact -lrb- self-taught -rrb- historian , and one of the most influential intellectuals of his time .
born as `` phra ong chao ditsawarakuman '' -lrb- พระองค์เจ้าดิศวรกุมาร ; `` prince ditsawarakuman '' -rrb- , a son of king mongkut with consort chum -lrb- เจ้าจอมมารดาชุ่ม ; chao chom manda chum -rrb- , a lesser royal wife ; he initially learned thai and pali from private tutors , and english at the royal school with mr francis george patterson .
at the age of 14 , he received his formal education in a special palace school created by his half-brother , king chulalongkorn .
he was given posts in the royal administration at an early age , becoming the commander of the royal guards regiment in 1880 at age 18 , and after several years working in building army schools as well as modernizing the army in general .
in 1887 , he was appointed as grand-officer to the army -lrb- commander-in-chief -rrb- .
at the same time he was chosen by the king to become the minister of education in his provisional cabinet .
however , when king chulalongkorn began his administrative reform programme in 1892 , prince damrong was chosen to lead the ministry of the north -lrb- `` mahatthai '' -rrb- , which was converted into the ministry of the interior in 1894 .
in his time as minister , he completely overhauled the provincial administration .
many minor provinces were merged into larger ones , the provincial governors lost most of their autonomy when the post was converted into one appointed and salaried by the ministry , and a new administrative division -- the `` monthon '' -lrb- circle -rrb- covering several provinces -- was created .
also , the formal education of administrative staff was introduced .
prince damrong was among the most important advisors of the king , and considered second only to him in power .
