List of French colonial administrators of Laos

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Flag of French Laos

Laos was a protectorate from 1893 to the Second World War and an autonomous kingdom within French Indochina in the post-war period until the end of the Indochina War in 1954 .

The list of the French colonial administrators of Laos gives all heads of the colonial administration and representatives of France at that time. These were subordinate to the respective Governor General (later High Commissioner) of Indochina and therefore only carried the title of Résident supérieur (senior resident ) or later Commissaire de la République (Commissioner of the Republic). The seat of the colonial administration was Vientiane .

Establishment of the Protectorate

Term of office Surname Remarks
1887 - mid-1894 Auguste Pavie Vice-consul (Vice Consul ) at the court of the king of Luang Prabang
1892 Victor-Alphonse Massie Vice Consul on behalf of Pavie (who was posted to Bangkok)
Mid 1894 - April 1895 Auguste Pavie Commissaire général (General Commissioner) of Laos
September 1895 - March 1896 Léon Jules Boulloche Résident supérieur (senior resident), diplomatic mission

Laos was divided into two areas in 1895 ( Bas-Laos and Haut-Laos ), each of which was administered by its own Commandant supérieur :

Commandants supérieurs of Haut-Laos (based in Luang Prabang )
June 1895 - March / April 1897 Joseph Vacle interim, first term
May 1897 - October 1898 Louis Paul Luce interim
October 1898 - April 1899 Joseph Vacle interim, second term
Commandant supérieur of Bas-Laos (seat in Khong , Champasak )
May 1895 - April 1899 Marie Auguste Armand Tournier

Résidents supérieurs

In April 1899, the division of Laos was reversed. The two Commandants supérieurs were replaced by a Résident supérieur , who had his seat in Vientiane . The officials changed very frequently; thus there were six residents in about 1931.

Term of office Surname Remarks
April 1899 - early 1903 Marie Auguste Armand Tournier
Mid 1903 - May 1906 Georges Marie Joseph Mahé interim
May 1906 - April 1907 Louis Saturnin Laffont interim
April 1907 - August 1910 Georges Marie Joseph Mahé
August 1910 - July 1911 Antoine Georges Amédeé Ernest Outrey Representation for Mahé
June 1911 - January 1912 Georges Marie Joseph Mahé Continuation of the term of office
January 1912 - July 1913 Louis Antoine Aubry de la Noë interim
July 1913 - October 1913 Claude Léon Garnier executive
October 1913 - February 1914 Jean Édouard Bourcier Saint-Chaffray interim
May 1914 - May 1918 Claude Léon Garnier executive
May / June 1918 - April 1921 Jules Georges Théodore Bosc
April 1921 - January 1923 Joël Daroussin Representation for Bosc
January 1923 - May 1925 Jules Georges Théodore Bosc Continuation of the term of office
May 1925 - January 1926 Jean-Jacques Dauplay Representation for Bosc
January 1926 - May 1928 Jules Georges Théodore Bosc Continuation of the term of office
May 1928 - December 1928 Paul Raimond Octane Le Boulanger Representation for Bosc
December 1928 - March 1931 Jules Georges Théodore Bosc Continuation of the term of office
March 1931 - May 1931 Paul Raimond Octane Le Boulanger interim
March 1931 Pierre André Michel Pagès Office not taken up
May 1931 - June 1931 Yves Charles Châtel
June 1931 - October / November 1931 Paul Raimond Octane Le Boulanger interim
November 1931 - February 1932 Jules Nicolas Thiebaut interim
February 1932 - October / December 1933 Aristide Eugène Le Fol
October / December 1933 - January 1934 Adrien Anthony Maurice Roques executive
January 1934 - July 1934 Louis Frédéric Eckert interim
July 1934 - August 1934 Adrien Anthony Maurice Roques executive
August 1934 - November 1934 Eugène Henri Roger Eutrope
November 1934 - October 1935 Frédéric Claire Guillaume Louis Marty Representation for Eutrope
October 1935 - April 1938 Eugène Henri Roger Eutrope
April 1938 - November 1940 André Touzet
November 1940 - December 1941 Adrien Anthony Maurice Roques interim
December 1941 - March 1945 Louis Antoine Marie Brasey imprisoned by the Japanese

Second World War

In March 1945 the Japanese overthrew the ( Vichy ) French administration, urged King Sisavang Vong to declare independence and appointed their own administrators:

  • Sako Masanori as military commander in Vientiane
  • Ishibashi as Chief Advisor in Luang Prabang

In August, the Japanese were ousted from power by the Lao Issara independence movement, led by Prince Phetsarath .

At the same time, the victorious powers decided at the Potsdam Conference to divide Indochina into two zones of occupation (which for Laos only existed on paper):

Commissaires de la République

The French returned to Indochina at the end of 1945; However, Laos could only be recaptured by the Lao Issara movement in mid-1946. Since the colonies had been promised autonomy (but not independence) at the Brazzaville Conference , the highest representatives of France now carried the title of Commissaire de la République .

Term of office Surname Remarks
August 1945 - April 1946 Hans Imfeld Military commander
April 1946 - July 1947 Jean de Raymond
July 1947 - March 1948 Maurice Marie Auguste Michaudel interim
March 1948 - late 1949 Alfred Gabriel Joseph Valmary interim
Late 1949 - April 1953 Robert Louis Aimable Régnier
April 1953 - January 1954 Miguel Joaquim de Pereyra Haut-commissaire / Haut-représentant  ?
January 1954 - 1955 Michel Georges Eugène Bréal Haut-commissaire / Haut-représentant  ?

Laos gained full independence in 1954 as a result of the French defeat. Bréal's successor, André Guibaut, still held the title of Haut- Repésentant, but his successors from 1957 were only dubbed Ambassadors .

literature

  • Martin Stuart-Fox , Mary Kooyman: Historical Dictionary of Laos , Scarecrow Press, 1992, Appendix 5 ( Résidents Supérieurs du Laos ), pp. 242/243

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