"Prime Minister Laos" Prince Souvanna Phouma Signed FDC Dated 1964 Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction "Prime Minister of Laos" Prince Souvanna Phouma Signed First Day Cover Dated 1964.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-3097D
Prince Souvanna Phouma
(7 October 1901 – 10 January 1984) was the leader of the neutralist faction and
Prime Minister
of the
Kingdom of Laos
several times (1951–1954, 1956–1958, 1960, and 1962–1975). Souvanna Phouma was the son of
Bounkhong
, the last vice-king of
Luang Prabang
and a nephew of King
Sisavang Vong
of Laos, given a French education in
Hanoi
,
Paris
and
Grenoble
, where he obtained his degree in
architecture
and
engineering
.
He returned to his homeland in 1931, married Aline Claire Allard, the daughter of a French father and a Lao mother, and entered the Public Works Service of French Indochina. Souvanna Phouma, together with his brother, Prince
Phetsarath Rattanavongsa
(1891–1959) and his half-brother, Prince
Souphanouvong
(1909–1995), around the end of World War II, joined the
Lao Issara
(Free Laos) movement established to counter the French occupation and its provisional Vientiane government (1945–46). When the French reoccupied Laos, Souvanna fled to exile in
Bangkok
, but returned to Laos in 1949 as France began conceding autonomy to Laos. Souvanna Phouma and his wife had four children including
Mangkra Souvanna Phouma
and Princess Moune, who married Perry J. Stieglitz, cultural-affairs attaché of the U.S. embassy. In 1951, Souvanna became
Prime Minister of Laos
under the
National Progressive Party
banner with a landslide victory, winning 15 of the 39 seats in the
National Assembly
. He was prime minister until 1954. After elections in December 1955, Souvanna Phouma returned to the prime ministership on a platform of national reconciliation. In August 1956 Souvanna and the Communist
Pathet Lao
, which his half-brother
Souphanouvong
headed agreed on broad proposals for a ‘government of national union’. Elections for 21 extra assembly seats were finally held in May 1958, with parties aligned with the Pathet Lao acquiring 13.
Souphanouvong
entered the government as Economic Minister. Another Pathet Lao leader,
Phoumi Vongvichit
, also acquired a Ministry. In June 1958 Souvanna was again forced to resign by the rightists. The king accepted the vote as legal the next day when he signed Royal Ordinance No. 282, dismissing Souvanna Phouma's government and giving powers provisionally to the Revolutionary Committee. Royal Ordinance No. 283, approved a provisional government formed by Prince Boun Oum, who acted as front man for
Phoui Sananikone
. He was one of the
Three Princes
, whom
Sisavang Vatthana
appointed to form a coalition government between the rightists and Pathet Lao but it collapsed, and the
Laotian Civil War
began.