Early Life
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, marrying 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), at around the end of World War II, joined 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.
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