Sisowath Kossamak

Sisowath Monivong Kossamak Nearirath Serey Vathana
ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ មុនីវង្ស កុសុមៈ នារីរ័ត្ន សេរីវឌ្ឍនា
Queen of Cambodia[a]
Reign20 June 1960 – 9 October 1970
PredecessorNorodom Suramarit
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
Chief of StateNorodom Sihanouk
Cheng Heng (acting)
Queen consort of Cambodia
Tenure2 March 1955 – 3 April 1960
Coronation6 March 1956
PredecessorNorodom Monineath
SuccessorNorodom Monineath
Born9 April 1904
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, French Indochina
Died27 April 1975(1975-04-27) (aged 71)
Beijing, China
Spouse
(m. 1920; died 1960)
IssueNorodom Sihanouk
Names
Sisowath Monivong Kossamak Nearirath Serey Vathana
HouseSisowath (by birth)
Norodom (by marriage)
FatherSisowath Monivong
MotherNorodom Kanviman Norleak Tevi
ReligionTheravada Buddhism

Sisowath Kossamak (Khmer: ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ កុសមៈ, Sĕisŏvôtth Kŏsâmeă; 9 April 1904 – 27 April 1975) was Queen of Cambodia from 1955 to 1960 as the wife of King Norodom Suramarit and reigning Queen of Cambodia from 1960 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1970. After her husband's death in 1960, her son Norodom Sihanouk became chief of state, while Kossamak played an important public representational rule during her son's reign in 1960–1970. Sisowath Kossamak was born a Cambodian princess as the daughter of King Sisowath Monivong and his wife Norodom Kanviman Norleak Tevi. Her official title was Preah Mohaksatreiyani Sisowath Monivong Kossamak Nearirath Serey Vathana (Khmer: ព្រះមហាក្សត្រិយានី ស៊ីសុវត្ថិ មុនីវង្ស កុសុមៈ នារីរ័ត្ន សេរីវឌ្ឍនា, Preăh Môhaksâtrĕyéani Sĕisŏvôtth Mŭnivôngs Kŏsâmeă Néariroătn Sérivôdthônéa).

Upon the death of Monivong in 1941, Sihanouk took the throne. In 1955, he abdicated in favor of his father Suramarit, who then reigned for five years. After her husband's death, Kossamak kept her title of Queen and continued to function as the symbol and representative of the monarchy while Sihanouk assumed his position as head of state, but titled as Prince rather than King. After the coup in March 1970, Kossamak was placed under arrest, but retained her title before being stripped of all status during the formal proclamation of the republic in October of the same year. She remained under house arrest until her health declined in 1973, and she was allowed to join her son in China.[1] Kossamak died in Beijing on 27 April 1975, ten days after the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh.

  1. ^ a b "Cambodian Queen is Dead in Peking". The New York Times. 28 April 1975. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. ^ Chandler, David (2018-05-04). A History of Cambodia (4th ed.). Routledge. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-429-96406-0. In 1960 Sihanouk's father, King Suramarit, died. After a series of maneuvers, Sihanouk had himself named Cambodia's chief of state with his mother, Queen Kossamak, continuing to serve as a monarch for ceremonial purposes.


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