Son Sann was a Cambodian politician and anti-communist resistance leader who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Cambodia and later as President of the National Assembly.
12 Facts About Son Sann
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Son Sann's family was of Khmer Krom background; both of his parents came from wealthy landowning families in the province of Tra Vinh, Vietnam.
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Son Sann studied in Phnom Penh and later Paris, where he graduated from the Ecole des hautes etudes commerciales de Paris in 1933.
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Son Sann briefly spent time in London, learning English in the process.
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Son Sann was a member of a Cambodian economic mission to Tokyo in 1941.
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An early supporter of the Khmer Democratic Party, Son Sann became a member of its steering committee.
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Son Sann re-entered politics as a member of the Sangkum party and served in several governments in the late 1950s to the early 1960s holding various posts before becoming president of the National Bank of Cambodia.
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Son Sann continued with these efforts even after the October proclamation of the Khmer Republic and by late 1971 he had gained the support of politicians and diplomats in Cambodia, France and China.
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Son Sann was named Prime Minister in the new coalition government.
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Son Sann was elected along with nine other members of the party and served as a minority member in the coalition government.
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Son Sann was President of the National Assembly from June to October 1993.
12.
In 1997, Son Sann left Cambodia again for Paris, where he remained with his family until his death from heart failure, on 19 December 2000, at 89 years of age.