Son Sann

When Son Sann died, the King of Cambodia declared that he was a "son of the nation and a hero of the Cambodian motherland".

One of his sons, Son Soubert, is a trained archeologist. The political leader remained a devout Buddhist his entire life.

Son Sann was born on October 5, 1911 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Although both of his parents were ethnic Khmer, they were originally from Tra Vinh Province in Vietnam.

He completed his elementary and secondary education in Phnom Penh. In 1929, he moved to Paris, France to enroll in school.

In 1933, Sann graduated from the ‘Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales’.

The following year in 1934, Sann moved to London. During this time, he learned English.

After staying in London for a year he returned to Cambodia, in 1935. He was given a job as a trade representative for the French colonial administration and served in Prey Veng and Battambang provinces.

In 1941, he was appointed as a member of an important Cambodian economic mission to Tokyo, Japan.

Sann was promoted to the post of vice president of the Council of Ministers, in 1946. Later, he was promoted to the position of Minister of Finance. He rapidly acclimated to the position.

In 1947, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia. In the same year, he founded the ‘Democratic Party’. It quickly rose to a position of prominence.

Son Sann was twice the Prime Minister of Cambodia and served in a number of prominent government positions in Cambodia. As the Prime Minister of the nation he implemented several progressive social programs to modernize his country. He also built important bridges between regional powers such as China and Vietnam as well as global powers such as the United States.