Kaysone Phomvihane

Kaysone Phomvihane ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ
Born	Nguyễn Cai Song 13 December 1920 Savannakhet, French Indochina
Died	21 November 1992 (aged 71) Vientiane, Laos
Political orientation	Marxism-Leninism
Political party	Lao People's Revolutionary Party

Kaysone Phomvihane was the first General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), the ruling Marxist-Leninist party of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, a position in which he served from 1955 until his death in 1992. He also served as the first Prime Minister of Laos from 1975 to 1991 and then as the its second President from 1991 to 1992.

Early life

Kaysone Phomvihane was born in Savannaket, a town situated in Southern Laos within French-occupied Indochina, on December 13, 1920. His father served in the Lao civil service, and Kaysone received his education in Hanoi, attending both a lycée and later the law faculty at Hanoi University.

Revolutionary

In 1942, Kaysone Phomvihane joined the militant resistance of the Lao populace against both French colonial rule and Japanese occupation. In August 1945, he participated in the liberation of Savannaket from Japanese control and from 1947 to 1949, he spearheaded the liberation struggle against French colonial forces in northeastern Laos. During this time, he established a people's army, which formally became the People's Liberation Army of Laos (PLAL) on January 20, 1949.

In 1949, Kaysone Phomvihane joined the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), a communist party led by Hồ Chí Minh, with the aim of liberating all of Indochina. During the First Congress of People’s Representatives of Laos from August 13 to 15, 1950, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Lao Liberation Front (Neo Lao Itsala) and assumed the role of minister of defense in the government of national resistance. Following the Second Congress of the ICP from February 11 to 19, 1951, it was decided that each former French Indochinese country should establish its independent party. On March 22, 1955, during the First (Constituent) Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, Kaysone Phomvihane was elected as the General Secretary of its Central Committee. That same year, he also took on the position of commander-in-chief of the PLAL.

General secretary

As the General Secretary, Kaysone Phomvihane played a role in organizing the Lao Patriotic Front (Neo Lao Haksat), which was established on January 6, 1956, by the LPRP which in 1959, subsequently elected him as its Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee. In February 1972, Kaysone Phomvihane was re-elected as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party during the 2nd Party Congress. On December 2, 1975, following the abolition of the monarchical system by the National Congress of People’s Representatives of Laos, and the formulation of a socialist development program, he was appointed as the first Prime Minister of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos.

Library works

(1981) Revolution in Laos: Practice and Prospects