Sisowath of Cambodia

Sisowath ( Sisovath ) I. ( born September 7, 1840 in Battambang; † August 9, 1927 in Phnom Penh ) was a Cambodian king.

Biography

The son of King Ang Duong was brought up with his half- brother Prince Norodom I. in Bangkok as Siam dominated along with Vietnam Cambodia and began the kings of Cambodia. After the death of his father, King Ang Duong 1860, he went to the old capital Oudong north of Phnom Penh, to prevent his younger half-brother Si Votha of a throne assumption. However, he was called back to Siam, to allow for the coronation of Prince Norodom King Norodom I. as the Siamese regarded as gefügeren rulers.

Sisowath itself was instead "Second King " ( Obbareach ) and thus the first pretender. When King Norodom 1863 with France completed a contract for the establishment of a protectorate, Sisowath broke off his relations with Siam, where he received from France financial support that would enable the French to preserve King Norodom of a possible accession to the throne by Prince Sisowath. However, in 1867 he left Bangkok to begin in Cambodia anti- French riots. However, he accepted after a short time the French protectorate.

After the death of King Norodom I. on April 24, 1904, he succeeded him as Sisowath I. after as king. After his coronation in 1906 he visited the protectorate of France from a state visit during which he first visited the Colonial Exhibition in Marseilles and was subsequently received in Paris with honors. Throughout his reign, he supported the residents of France in constant friendship and was regarded as one of the most educated personalities of his kingdom. The loyalty to the protectorate continued during the First World War, when he supported the recruitment of workers and soldiers for France. In 1916, he led the negotiations for calming peasant protests against the forced labor.

After his death he was succeeded on August 9, 1927 his son Sisowath Monivong as King of Cambodia.