Kou Voravong
Kou Voravong ກຸ ວໍຣະວົງ | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Defense of Laos | |
| In office 21 November 1953 – 18 September 1954 | |
| Monarch | S.M. Sisavang Vong |
| Prime Minister | Souvanna Phouma |
| Preceded by | Phoui Sananikone |
| Succeeded by | Souvanna Phouma |
| Minister of the Interior and Cult of Laos | |
| In office 27 February 1950 – 15 October 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | Phoui Sananikone |
| Minister of Economic Affairs of Laos | |
| In office March 1948 – February 1950 | |
| Prime Minister | Boun Oum |
| Minister of Public Works and Justice of Laos | |
| In office 15 March 1947 – 24 March 1948 | |
| Prime Minister | Prince Souvannarath |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kou Voravong 6 December 1914 Savannakhet, Laos |
| Died | 18 September 1954 (aged 39) Vientiane, Laos |
| Party | Phak Paxaathipatay |
Kou Voravong (lao : ກຸ ວໍຣະວົງ) (6 December 1914 – 18 September 1954) was a Laotian politician. He was part of the anti-Japanese resistance leading group during the Second World War and then anti-Lao Issara (ລາວອິດສລະ) in the post-war period. Throughout his career, from 1941 to 1954, he has been District Chief, Province Governor, member of the Lao National Assembly, and Royal Lao Government Minister.
The political crisis caused by his assassination, barely two months after the Geneva Agreements which prepared to restore peace in Indochina, contributed to bring down the current neutralist government (pro-French) which was replaced by a progressive one (pro-American) in extremely tense atmosphere of the Cold War between Russia and the United States. From 1955 indeed, the political history of this small landlocked country fell trapped inexorably in the ideological confrontation between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, annihilating any hope of national unification.
We can find a Kou Voravong Road in the city of Thakhek as well as in Savannakhet where his name is also given to an old stadium now a sports park. Since 1995, a statue is erected in the garden of the family residence where he lived as a child.