Son Ngoc Minh (, ; 1920 – 22 December 1972), also known as Achar Mean (), was a Cambodian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and co-founder of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP), the predecessor to the

Communist Party of Kampuchea The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), also known as the Khmer Communist Party,
Country Data. . was a

Biography

Son was born in 1920 in

Trà Vinh Province Trà Vinh () was a former province in the Mekong Delta region of Southern Vietnam. The capital is Trà Vinh City. Etymology Trà Vang was an old name used for this area, a hinterland with a sparse population. In 1825, the area of Trà Vinh was ...

(present-day

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

) during the French colonial period to a Khmer Krom father and a Vietnamese mother. Before entering politics, he was a Buddhist lay preacher ('' achar'') and was known as ''Phạm Văn Hua'' among his Vietnamese colleagues.Christopher E. Goscha, Thailand and the Southeast Asian Networks of the Vietnamese Revolution, 1885-1954,

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1999, , p. 339 During the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, he was recruited by Vietnamese communists (

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

) to serve as President of a newly formed Cambodian People's Liberation Committee (CPLC) in

Battambang Battambang (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang province and the List of cities and towns in Cambodia, third largest city in Cambodia. The city is situated on the Sangkae River, which winds its way through t ...

. Son was the nearest the Vietnamese had to an authentic Khmer revolutionary. His ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' was intended to capitalise on the popularity of Sihanouk's banished rival,

Son Ngoc Thanh Sơn Ngọc Thành (; 7 December 1908 – 8 August 1977) was a Cambodian nationalist and republican politician, with a long history as a rebel leader and (for brief periods) a government minister. Early life Thanh was born in Trà Vinh, Viet ...

, then still languishing in exile in France. Son was the leader of the first nationwide congress of the leftist Khmer Issarak groups, which founded the United Issarak Front (UIF). In 1950, he formally declared Cambodia's independence after claiming that the UIF controlled one third of the country.Kiernan, B. ''How Pol Pot came to power'', Yale UP, 2004, p. 80 Along with Tou Samouth, Son founded the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) in 1951. After the Geneva Agreements and the end of the

First Indochina war The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, he and many Khmer Issarak officials left Cambodia for

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

. Son remained a senior figure in the Party, albeit largely operating from

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

in North Vietnam until 1972, when at the request of

Ieng Sary Ieng Sary (; born Kim Trang; 24 October 1925 – 14 March 2013) was the co-founder and senior member of the Khmer Rouge and one of the main architects of the Cambodian genocide. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Par ...

, he was sent to hospital in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

to be treated for high blood pressure. He died in Beijing on 22 December.Kiernan, p. 360 His death further lessened the influence of the Hanoi-trained communists on the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

, correspondingly increasing the power of the hardline Party 'Centre' led by

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

References

Bibliography

* Dommen, Arthur J.; ''The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam'',

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, 2001, * Tyner, James A.; ''The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008 1920 births 1972 deaths Cambodian people of Vietnamese descent Communist Party of Kampuchea politicians Khmer Krom people People from Trà Vinh province Cambodian communists Cambodian expatriates in Vietnam {{Cambodia-politician-stub