{{Short description|28th Prime Minister of Cambodia}} {{Family name hatnote|lang=Cambodian|Pen|Sovann}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Pen Sovann | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|km|ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ}}}} | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = Pen Sovan in 1981 | office1 = Member of Parliament<br /> for Kampong Speu | term_start1 = 5 August 2014 | term_end1 = 29 October 2016 | predecessor1 = Say Chhum | successor1 = Suon Rida | office = Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Cambodia | term_start = 27 June 1979 | term_end = 5 December 1981 | president = Heng Samrin | predecessor = Pol Pot (1979) | successor = Chan Sy (acting) | office3 = Minister of Defense | term_start3 = 10 January 1979 | term_end3 = 5 December 1981 | prime_minister3 = Himself | predecessor3 = Son Sen | successor3 = Bou Thang | office4 = General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party | term_start4 = 5 January 1979 | term_end4 = 4 December 1981 | predecessor4 = Tou Samouth (1951) | successor4 = Heng Samrin | birth_date = {{birth date|1936|4|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Tram Kak District, Takéo Province, Cambodia, French Indochina | death_date = {{death date and age|2016|10|29|1936|4|15|df=y}} | death_place = Doun Kaev, Takéo Province, Cambodia | party = {{ubl|Cambodia National Rescue Party<br />{{small|(2013–2016)}}|Human Rights Party<br />{{small|(2007–2013)}}|Cambodian National Sustaining Party<br />{{small|(1998–2007)}}|Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party<br />{{small|(1978–1981)}}|Communist Party of Kampuchea<br />{{small|(1958–1974)}}}} | spouse = | children = | allegiance = Cambodia<br />People's Republic of Kampuchea | service_years = 1949–1981 | branch = Khmer Issarak<br />Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation | battles = First Indochina War<br />Cambodian Civil War<br />Cambodian–Vietnamese War }} {{Contains special characters|Khmer}} '''Pen Sovann''' ({{langx|km|ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ}}; 15 April 1936 – 29 October 2016) was a Cambodian politician and revolutionary who served as the Prime Minister of the Hanoi-backed People's Republic of Cambodia from 27 June 1979 to 5 December 1981. He also served as General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (CPRP) from 1979 to 1981. He was arrested and removed from office in December 1981 by the Vietnamese for irritating Lê Đức Thọ, the chief adviser to the PRK government. He was imprisoned in Vietnam until January 1992.
Sovann founded the Cambodian National Sustaining Party, which contested in the 1998 election but did not win a seat in parliament. He later joined the Human Rights Party founded in 2007 and served as its vice president. In 2012, he became a member of the newly founded Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and stood as an MP candidate for Kampong Speu. He was elected and was sworn in on 5 August 2014, serving until his death in October 2016.
==Biography== Pen Sovann was born in Chan Teab Village, Samraong Commune, Tram Kak District, Takéo province.<ref>{{cite web |title=ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ ជីវប្រវត្តិសង្ខេប និងបុព្វហេតុជាតិមាតុភូមិកម្ពុជា |url=https://www.elibraryofcambodia.org/ebook/pen-sovann-ebook/ |website=www.elibraryofcambodia.org}}</ref> He first joined the Khmer Issarak at the age of 13 in 1950 and fought against the French. Two years later, Sovann joined the Indochinese Communist Party where he first met Ta Mok. Sovann supported the Khmer Rouge during the 1970-1973 civil war against the Khmer Republic and he worked along with Chan Sy under Khieu Thirith, in charge of the Voice of the National United Front of Kampuchea. From 1973 to 1979, Sovann lived in exile in Hanoi.<ref>''The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979-1989: The revolution after Pol Pot'' {{ISBN|978-974-9575-34-5}}</ref>
Sovann was a founding leader of Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS or FUNSK) on 25 November 1978. He served as Secretary-General of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party from 5 January 1979<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/79.htm | title=Cambodia - THE KPRP}}</ref> to 1 December 1981, when he was replaced by Heng Samrin following his removal from office by the Vietnamese.
Sovann was arrested on 2 December 1981 for irritating Lê Đức Thọ, chief Vietnamese advisor to the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (FUNSK) and the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). He was released from Vietnam's prison on 25 January 1992, after he served over 10 years. Sovann explained his long ordeal in prison: "When I wanted to create our own army of five regiments, the Vietnamese didn't agree and Lê Đức Thọ went to the USSR to complain."<ref>Quoted by Margaret Slocomb in ''The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979-1989: The revolution after Pol Pot'' {{ISBN|978-974-9575-34-5}}</ref>
After being released, Sovann returned to Kampong Speu province where he spent years living as a farmer with his family, before re-entering politics and forming the Cambodian National Sustaining Party (CNSP) in January 1998. The CNSP participated in the 1998 general election but never won a seat. In 2007, he served as vice-president of Kem Sokha's Human Rights Party (HRP) but lost during the 2008 election. Subsequently the HRP merged with the Sam Rainsy Party to form the Cambodian National Rescue Party in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/366267/savvy-former-pm-looks-set-to-stir-up-the-hornet-nest |title=Savvy former PM looks set to stir up the hornet's nest |work=Bangkok Post}}</ref> In 2013, Sovann became the CNRP's candicate for member of parliament for Kampong Speu province. He was elected and was sworn in on 5 August 2014.
Sovann died in Doun Kaev, Takéo Province on 29 October 2016.<ref>''Cambodia’s first post-Khmer Rouge prime minister dies at 80.'' In: Washington Post. 30 October 2016. ({{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/cambodias-1st-post-khmer-rouge-premier-dies-at-80/2016/10/30/09bce59c-9e77-11e6-b552-b1f85e484086_story.html |title=Cambodia's first post-Khmer Rouge prime minister dies at 80 - the Washington Post |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=30 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030213935/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/cambodias-1st-post-khmer-rouge-premier-dies-at-80/2016/10/30/09bce59c-9e77-11e6-b552-b1f85e484086_story.html |archive-date=30 October 2016 |url-status=dead }})</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/politics/pen-sovann-10302016055401.html |title=សពអតីតនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីលោក ប៉ែនសុវណ្ណ អាចនឹងត្រូវដង្ហែពីខេត្តតាកែវទៅបូជានៅភ្នំពេញ |trans-title=Former Prime Minister Pen Sovan to be cremated in Phnom Penh |first=Mam |last=Moniroth |date=30 October 2016 |work=Radio Free Asia |accessdate=30 October 2016 |language=Khmer |quote=លោក ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ បានទទួលមរណភាពនៅម៉ោង ៧ និង ១៧នាទី យប់ថ្ងៃសៅរ៍ ទី២៩ តុលា ដោយរោគាពាធ ក្នុងជន្មាយុ ៨០ឆ្នាំ នាគេហដ្ឋានរបស់លោកនៅភូមិស្នោ សង្កាត់រកាក្នុង ក្រុងដូនកែវ ខេត្តតាកែវ [Pen Sovan passed away at 7:17pm Saturday 29 October of natural causes at the age of 80 at his home in Snor Village, Rorka Knong Commune, Doun Kaev City, Takéo Province.]}}</ref> He was cremated in Phnom Penh on 6 November 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ex-pm-sovann-cremated-capital|title=Ex-PM Sovann cremated in capital|publisher=The Phnom Penh Post|date=7 November 2016|accessdate=8 November 2016}}</ref> On 10 November, Suon Rida was appointed to fill Sovann's vacant CNRP seat in Kampong Speu.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cambodiadaily.com/brief/opposition-appoints-official-replace-pen-sovann-120429|title=Opposition Appoints Official to Replace Pen Sovan|publisher=The Cambodia Daily|date=10 November 2016|accessdate=22 November 2016|archive-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210123614/https://www.cambodiadaily.com/brief/opposition-appoints-official-replace-pen-sovann-120429/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==See also== *Communist Party of Kampuchea
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* Luke Young: [http://monthlyreview.org/2013/11/01/cambodian-political-history Cambodian Political History. The Case of Pen Sovann] In: ''Monthly Review'' 65.1 (November 2013). * Scalapino, Robert A.; Wanadi, Jusuf; ''Economic, political, and security issues in Southeast Asia in the 1980s'', Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1982, {{ISBN|0912966521}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Pol Pot}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Cambodia|years=1981}} {{s-aft|after=Chan Sy}} |- {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=None}} {{s-ttl|title=First Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party|years=1979–1981}} {{s-aft|after=Himself<br /><small>General Secretary</small>}} |- {{s-bef|before=Himself<br /><small>First Secretary</small>}} {{s-ttl|title=General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party|years=1981}} {{s-aft|after=Heng Samrin}} |- {{s-end}}
{{CambodianLeaders}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pen, Sovan}} Category:1936 births Category:2016 deaths Category:21st-century Cambodian politicians Category:Human Rights Party (Cambodia) politicians Category:Cambodian nationalists Category:Cambodian socialists Category:Cambodian revolutionaries Category:Cambodian military personnel Category:Cambodian People's Party politicians Category:Cambodian people imprisoned abroad Category:Cambodian people of Vietnamese descent Category:Members of the National Assembly (Cambodia) Category:Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation politicians Category:Communist Party of Kampuchea politicians Category:Cambodia National Rescue Party politicians Category:People from Takéo province Category:Defence ministers of Cambodia Category:People's Republic of Kampuchea Category:Foreign nationals imprisoned in Vietnam Category:Prime ministers of Cambodia Category:Cambodian politicians convicted of crimes