Statue of King Father Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk was a Cambodian royal politician and the King of Cambodia. Born to the Khmer Royal Family in the French Protectorate of Cambodia, Sihanouk became king in 1941 and remained so amid the Japanese occupation during the Second World War. Post-war, Sihanouk secured Cambodian independence from France in 1953. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated the throne and formed the political organisation Sangkum, which won the 1955 general election. As Prime Minister, he governed Cambodia 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. A 1970 military coup ousted him and paved the way for the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic. Sihanouk fled to China and North Korea, there forming a government-in-exile and resistance movement. After the Cambodian Civil War resulted in victory for the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Sihanouk returned to Cambodia, now renamed Democratic Kampuchea, as its figurehead head of state. Although initially supportive of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, his relations with them declined and in 1976 he resigned. He was placed under house arrest until 1979, when Vietnamese forces overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Sihanouk went into exile again, and in 1981, he formed FUNCINPEC, a resistance party. The following year, Sihanouk became President of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea , a broad coalition of anti-Vietnamese resistance factions. This coalition retained Cambodia's seat at the United Nations, making Sihanouk 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. In 1991, peace accords were signed and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia was established the following year. The UNTAC organised general elections in 1993, and a coalition government, jointly led by his son Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, was subsequently formed. In 1993, Sihanouk was reinstated as Cambodia's Head of State and King. In 2004, he abdicated again with his son, Norodom Sihamoni, elected as his successor. He died in 2012. Sihanouk pursued an artistic career during his lifetime, and wrote several musical compositions. He produced 50 films between 1966 and 2006, at times directing and acting in them. In Cambodia, he is also known as Samdech Euv .
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