Nuth, Penn

Born in the family of a high-ranking official who served as provincial governor. He graduated from the Franco-Cambodian school and since 1926 held various positions in provincial government; in 1935 he graduated from the Cambodian school of administration, in September 1938 he was sent to Paris, to the colonial administration to complete the training.

He climbed the career ladder to the post of prefect of the district, at the time of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he held the post of deputy prefect of the province of Kandal . In 1940 he was appointed Minister of the Interior, and in 1941 he was transferred to the post of Minister of the Royal Court for Finance, Cults and Fine Arts. In 1945 he entered the government of Norodom Sihanouk as Deputy Minister of Finance, in August-October of the same year he acted as Minister.

In 1945-1946 he was the governor of Kampongtyam province, in this post he was responsible for the fight against anti-French riots on the rubber plantations of Chup and Mimot, in 1946-1948 he was the governor of Phnom Penh.

In 1948-1949 , he first held the post of Prime Minister of Cambodia. During the king’s stay in France in 1949, he was a member of the Regency Council.

In 1950, for some time he was a private adviser to the king, having the title, prerogatives and regime of the Minister of State of the royal government. In 1950-1953 - Minister of Defense of Cambodia. In January-November 1953 he again held the post of prime minister, as part of his campaign for independence, Norod Sihanouk transferred command of the royal army to him before setting off for exile in Thailand. In March of that year, he joined the king in Paris to begin negotiations with the French government, and in July he negotiated with the colonial authorities from Phnom Penh, which led in November to the declaration of independence of Cambodia.

In 1954 - 1955, and in January-April 1958, he served as prime minister and foreign minister ^[1] . In April 1955, he was deputy head of the delegation of Cambodia at the Bandung Conference . In 1957, he headed the delegation of Cambodia at a session of the UN General Assembly . In 1955-1958, he also chaired the Supreme Royal Council of Cambodia.

In 1958-1961 , he was ambassador to France, and in January-November 1961, the Prime Minister of Cambodia.

In 1968 - 1969 he again headed the government of the country. After the overthrow of Sihanouk by General Lon Nol in 1970, he led the government in exile, which operated from Beijing .

After the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh in 1975, he was again appointed prime minister, but as such was only a decorative figure and did not have real power. In 1976, Pol Pot was appointed Prime Minister of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea . Like Norodom Sihanouk, he was placed under house arrest, from which he was released in January 1979 , after the invasion of the Vietnamese army, he returned to China. Then he moved to France, where in March 1981 he received refugee status and died a few years later.

• Penn Nut (People and Events) // New Time . - M. , 1958. - No. 3 . - S. 30 .
• Penn Nut (People and Events) // New Time . - M. , 1968. - No. 8 . - S. 31 .