, birth_date =
, birth_place =
Prachantakham,
Prachinburi
Prachinburi ( th, ปราจีนบุรี, , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Prachinburi Province. It covers the entire tambon Na Mueang of the Mueang Prachinburi District (city district). As of 2000, the ...
,
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, death_date =
, death_place =
Waritchaphum,
Sakon Nakhon
Sakon Nakhon ( th, สกลนคร, ; sometimes written Sakhon Nakhon) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, occupation =
, signature = ChitPhumisakSignature.png
Chit Phumisak (also spelt Jit Poumisak; th, จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์, ; 25 September 1930 – 5 May 1966) was a Thai Marxist historian, activist, author,
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
, poet, songwriter, and
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
. His most influential book was ''The Face of Thai Feudalism'' (โฉมหน้าศักดินาไทย, ''Chom Na Sakdina Thai''), written in 1957 under the pseudonym Somsamai Srisootarapan (สมสมัย ศรีศูทรพรรณ). Other pen names used by Chit include Kawi Kanmuang (กวีการเมือง, 'Political Poet') and Kawi Srisayam (กวี ศรีสยาม, 'Siamese Poet'). He has been described as the "
Che Guevara
Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
of Thailand".
Biography
Born into a poor family in
Prachinburi Province
Prachinburi province ( th, ปราจีนบุรี, , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces (''changwat''), it lies in eastern Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Ratchasima, Sa Kaeo, Chachoengsao, an ...
, eastern Thailand, he studied
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
at
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...
in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
. It was as a student that Chit first became exposed to
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
; in 1953 he was hired by the U.S. embassy to help assist
William J. Gedney
William J. Gedney (April 4, 1915November 14, 1999) was an American linguist notable for his work on Thai and related Tai languages.
Life
Gedney was born in Orchards, Washington, and spent his childhood there. He was the son of John Marshall G ...
, an American linguist working in Thailand, to translate ''
The Communist Manifesto
''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Commu ...
'' into Thai (in an attempt to scare the Thai government into taking a tougher stance against communism).
His writings were
anti-nationalist and
progressive and were viewed as a threat to the state by the harshly anti-communist government of
Sarit Thanarat
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (also spelt ''Dhanarajata''; th, สฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, ; 16 June 1908 – 8 December 1963) was a Thai general who staged a coup in 1957, replacing Plaek Phibunsongkhram as Thailand's prime m ...
. He was arrested in 1957, branded a communist, and after six years in jail was declared not guilty by a court and set free.
In 1965, he joined the
Communist Party of Thailand
The Communist Party of Thailand ( Abrv: CPT; th, พรรคคอมมิวนิสต์แห่งประเทศไทย, ) was a communist party in Thailand active from 1942 until the 1990s.
Initially known as the Communist Party ...
, headquartered in the jungles of the
Phu Phan Mountains
The Phu Phan mountains ( th, ทิวเขาภูพาน, , ) are a range of hills dividing the Khorat Plateau of the Isan region of Thailand into two basins: the northern Sakhon Nakhon Basin, and the southern Khorat Basin.
The silhouette ...
, in
Sakhon Nakhon Province. On May 5, 1966 he was shot dead by villagers near the village Nong Kung in
Waritchaphum district. His body was burned and no proper ceremony for his death occurred until 1989, when his remains were finally placed in a
stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circum ...
at the nearby
Wat Prasittisangwon.
There is a small dispute over his death.
Paul M. Handley, the author of ''
The King Never Smiles'', states that Chit was executed by government officials near the Phu Phan mountains shortly after he was released from jail.
[Handley, Paul M. (2006),''The King Never Smiles.'' Yale University Press]
Selected works
* โฉมหน้าศักดินาไทย (''Chom Na Sakdina Thai''; "The Real Face of Thai Feudalism")
* รวมบทกวีและงานวิจารณ์ศิลปวรรณคดีของ กวีการเมือง (''Ruam botkawi lae ngan wichan sinlapa wannakhadi khong Kawi Kanmueang''; "Collected Poems and Literary Reviews by 'Political Poet'"), under pseudonym "Kawi Kanmuang"
* ความเป็นมาของคำสยาม ไทย, ลาว และขอม และลักษณะทางสังคมของชื่อชนชาติ (''Khwampenma khong kham Sayam Thai Lao lae Khom lae laksana thangsangkhom khong chue chonchat''; "Etymology of the terms Siam, Thai, Lao, and Khom, and the Social Characteristics of Nationalities")
* ตำนานนครวัด ("Tamnarn nakhon wat"; "The Legendary of Angkor Wat")
* เพลง "แสงดาวแห่งศรัทธา" ("Phleng Sangdao Hang Sat-tha"; "Song of the Stars of Faith")
* เพลง "ภูพานปฏิวัติ" ("Phleng Phuphan Patiwat"; "Song of the Revolution of Phuphan")
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phumisak, Chit
Chit Phumisak
Chit Phumisak
1930 births
1966 deaths
Chit Phumisak
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Chit Phumisak
Chit Phumisak
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20th-century linguists
20th-century poets
Chit Phumisak
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Anti-nationalism
20th-century philosophers