Norodom Sihanouk, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Norodom Sihanouk

Cambodian King

Date of Birth: 31-Oct-1922

Place of Birth: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Date of Death: 15-Oct-2012

Profession: actor, composer, politician, singer, musician, film director

Nationality: Cambodia

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

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About Norodom Sihanouk

  • Norodom Sihanouk (Khmer: ??????? ?????; 31 October 1922 – 15 October 2012) was head of state of Cambodia numerous times.
  • In Cambodia, he is known as Samdech Euv (Khmer: ???????, father prince).
  • During his lifetime Cambodia was variously called the French Protectorate of Cambodia (until 1953), the Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–70), the Khmer Republic (1970–75), Democratic Kampuchea (1975–79), the People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–93), and again the Kingdom of Cambodia (from 1993). Sihanouk became king of Cambodia in 1941 upon the death of his maternal grandfather, King Monivong.
  • After the Japanese occupation of Cambodia during the Second World War, he secured Cambodian independence from France.
  • He abdicated in 1955 and was succeeded by his father, Suramarit.
  • Sihanouk's political organization Sangkum won the general elections that year and he became prime minister of Cambodia.
  • He governed it under one-party rule, suppressed political dissent, and declared himself Head of State in 1960.
  • Officially neutral in foreign relations, in practice he was closer to the communist bloc.
  • The Cambodian coup of 1970 ousted him and he fled to China and North Korea, there forming a government-in-exile and resistance movement.
  • He returned as figurehead head of state after the Cambodian Civil War resulted in victory for the Khmer Rouge in 1975.
  • His relations with the government declined and in 1976 he resigned.
  • He was placed under house arrest until Vietnamese forces overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Sihanouk went into exile again and in 1981 formed FUNCINPEC, a resistance party.
  • The following year, he became president of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), a broad coalition of anti-Vietnamese resistance factions which retained Cambodia's seat at the United Nations, making him Cambodia's internationally recognized head of state.
  • In the late 1980s, informal talks were carried out to end hostilities between the Vietnam-supported People's Republic of Kampuchea and the CGDK.
  • In 1990, the Supreme National Council of Cambodia was formed as a transitional body to oversee Cambodia's sovereign matters, with Sihanouk as its president.
  • The 1991 Paris Peace Accords were signed and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was established the following year.
  • The UNTAC organized the 1993 Cambodian general elections, and a coalition government, jointly led by his son Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, was subsequently formed.
  • He was reinstated as Cambodia's king.
  • He abdicated again in 2004 and the Royal Council of the Throne chose his son, Sihamoni, as his successor.
  • Sihanouk died in Beijing in 2012. Between 1941 and 2006, Sihanouk produced and directed 50 films, some of which he acted in.
  • The films, later described as being of low quality, often featured nationalistic elements, as did a number of the songs he wrote.
  • Some of his songs were about his wife Queen Monique, the nations neighboring Cambodia, and the communist leaders who supported him in his exile.
  • In the 1980s Sihanouk held concerts for diplomats in New York City.
  • He also participated in concerts at his palace during his second reign.

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