Somdach Veang Thiounn (, April 8, 1864–September 1946) was a Cambodian state official of the Khmer nobility during the French protectorate of Cambodia who had a lasting influence on Khmer historiography through the Cambodian Royal Chronicles. While he has been described as the shogun of the French protectorate and a "comprador feudalist", others have praised his long service to the Kingdom of Cambodia, as "the epitome of the colonial subject who quickly saw how to turn the new regime to an advantage":
Early life and education
Thiounn was born in the Kampong Tralach district of Kampong Chhnang province on April 8, 1864, in a Vietnamese family of fishermen who had emigrated from Ha Tien and settled a few miles north of Longvek. His father was known as oknha piphéac norit Hui, a Cambodian merchant and "honorary mandarin" of the personal guard of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. probably Queen Pen, mother of King Norodom. His father Huy passed away in 1897 and his mother Veng shortly after him in 1900. As a child, Thiounn attended the Franco-Cambodian school in Phnom Penh, then joined classes at the Chasseloup-Laubat high school in Saigon.
Civil career
Speaking not only Khmer and Siamese but also French, Thiounn was hired as secretary of the Council of Ministers in 1883. He served as a mediator between the French administration and King Norodom.
In 1884, Thiounn married a certain Malis, daughter of mī Soc and Paul Le Faucheur, “runner of arroyos” with a sulphurous reputation with the Indochinese authorities.
Auguste Pavie invited the young Thiounn to France in 1885 when he was only nineteen years old. After spending three years in France, Thiounn was then appointed interpreter on February 1, 1888, to be attached to the Mission Pavie until 1895. Thiounn also helped Pavie translate many Khmer folktales such as Vorvong and Sorvong.
While he was harshly criticized by the more conservative dignitaries of the Royal Palace who supported rebel prince Si Votha, Veang Thiounn encouraged collaboration with the French protectorate for the modernization of Cambodia.
From political instability to exceptional longevity as Minister of the Palace
L'affaire Yukanthor
After the insurrection of 1884-1886 and later his failed diplomatic trip to France in 1886, Prince Norodom Yukanthor went after those he presumed where responsible for making Cambodia a "slave inside the whims of (French) administrators". Yukanthor demanded the removal of the Prime Minister Um "who ran away before the enemy" in 1885, and of Thiounn, secretary of the Council of Ministers, the latter two which Yukanthor accused of being the "two main embezzlers of the country".
In the scandal around Prince Yukanthor, Thiounn did not try to defend himself and sided with the French colonial authorities. Thiounn was accused by Yukanthor to be a half-breed treated as a puppet by the French since his recruitment as secretary-interpreter, placed by them in the council of ministers and accused of enriching himself there thanks to the spices he demands in return for his services. Thiounn is thus accused to have illegally amassed a real estate fortune. The decision of a man like Thiounn to position himself alongside the French is easily explained. He was not a man rooted in the royal administration. After serving the French for a long time, he probably had a good idea of the extent of their power.
Minister of the Palace on a royal journey to France
From 1892, he became, as Deputy Secretary of the Council of Ministers, one of the main mediators between the Cambodia monarchy and the Résident supérieur. From first secretary in 1897, he became general secretary and ex officio member of the council of ministers in 1899.
In 1902, Thiounn was placed with King Norodom I by Resident Superior Boulloche and appointed Minister of the Palace, Finances and Fine Arts. He kept that position until the end of the reign of King Sisowath in 1927 and even under King Monivong until 1941. In 1906, he accompanied King Sisowath to France in what was the first international tour of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. The French public was impressed by their performance and French journal L'Illustration praised Thiounn for his bright intellect and love of France. His son Thiounn Hol also joined the royal journey, and received as sponsorship to study at the Ecole coloniale. Thiounn wrote the account of his trip, in which he punctiliously reports every stage of the long sea-voyage of the King.
Around 1915, Thiounn Yang, daughter of Thiounn, was married Poc Duch's son, Poc Hell, sealing strong matrimonial alliances with others dignitaries.