Phoumi Vongvichit

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Phoumi Vongvichit (born April 6, 1909 in Xieng Khouang Province , Laos ; † January 7, 1994 ) was a Laotian politician of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LRVP) .

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Vongvichit joined the "Free Laos" ( Lao Issara ) movement in 1950 , which wanted to prevent the French colonial power from recapturing the country after the Second World War . After the split in Lao Issara in 1955, he joined the more Stalinist movement “Land Laos” ( Pathet Lao ), of which he subsequently became general secretary. In 1961 he was a representative of Pathet Lao in the negotiations in Geneva , which brought an end to the civil war in Laos in 1962 .

In the following years he was in the governments led by Prime Minister Suvanna Phūmā between June 1962 and December 1975, inter alia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, and most recently from 1974 to 1975 Foreign Minister.

After the overthrow of the monarchy under King Savang Vatthana and the establishment of the People's Democratic Republic on December 2, 1975, he again took over the post of Minister of Education in the government formed by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LRVP) under Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane . In this role he was responsible for the re-education of thousands of royalist supporters of the previous government. He also tried to combine socialism with Buddhism and forced Buddhist monks to include the party line in their sermons . Over time, Vongvichit, who was also a member of the LRVP's Politburo , became the second most powerful man after Prime Minister and Secretary General Phomvihane.

On October 31, 1986, he became the second incumbent president for the incumbent, who was ill for an indefinite period, Souphanouvong . After the new constitution was passed on August 14, 1991, he was replaced by Kaysone Phomvihane as president.

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