Leader of Democratic Kampuchea
In April 1975 the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh and emptied a city of some two million overnight, driving the people out to the countryside.
Leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and Democratic Kampuchea. His 1975–1979 regime imposed forced evacuation, labor, collectivized farming and political purges. War with Vietnam ended its control of Phnom Penh, but the Khmer Rouge continued as an armed movement.
Also known as: Saloth Sar
Activities and affiliations
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1963–1974
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)
Political and party leadership -
1975–1979
Democratic Kampuchea state institutionsPrime MinisterMain
Political and party leadership -
1975–1979
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)Led the Communist Party during Democratic Kampuchea
Political and party leadership -
1980–1981
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1953Returned from France and joined the Khmer Việt Minh
- 1963–1981General Secretary, Communist Party of Kampuchea
- 1976–1979Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea
- 1979Overthrown by the Vietnamese invasion, retreated to the jungle near the Thai border
- 1985–1997Led the remnant Khmer Rouge as Director of the Higher Institute of National Defence
- 1998Placed under house arrest by Ta Mok, then died
Related historical events
State and economic-policy context
Leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and Democratic Kampuchea. His 1975–1979 regime imposed forced evacuation, labor, collectivized farming and political purges. War with Vietnam ended its control of Phnom Penh, but the Khmer Rouge continued as an armed movement.
Khmer Rouge collective farming operated alongside forced displacement, food controls, executions and persecution. Heng Samrin’s government combined state, cooperative and household activity with Vietnamese and Soviet-bloc support. Treating them as one uninterrupted agrarian model obscures these differences.
Accounts differ on the birth year, which is therefore left unspecified here.