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{{Short description|Laotian politician (1911–1980)}}
{{Refimprove|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Prince]]
| name                = Boun Oum
| native_name         = {{nobold|ບຸນອຸ້ມ ນະ ຈຳປາສັກ}}
| image               = Boun Oum 1971.jpg
| office1             = 4th [[Prime Minister of Laos]]
| term_start1         = 13 December 1960
| term_end1           = 23 June 1962
| monarch1            = [[Sisavang Vatthana]]
| predecessor1        = [[Souvanna Phouma]]
| successor1          = [[Souvanna Phouma]]
| term_start2         = 25 March 1948
| term_end2           = 24 February 1950
| monarch2            = [[Sisavang Vong]]
| predecessor2        = [[Souvannarath]]
| successor2          = [[Phoui Sananikone]]
| birth_date          = 2 December 1911<ref name="laohistdictionary" />
| birth_place         = [[Champasak Province|Champasak]], [[French Protectorate of Laos|Laos]], [[French Indochina]]
| death_date          = 17 March 1980 (aged 68)
| death_place         = [[Boulogne-Billancourt]], [[France]]
| party               = [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
| father              = [[Ratsadanay]]
| spouse              = ''Mom Nang'' Buvanabarni Bouaphanh
| children            = 9
| caption             = Oum in 1971
| office              = [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Laos|President of the Royal Council]]<br />{{small|''(or also called [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Laos|President of the Kings Council]])''}}
| successor           = [[Kou Abhay]]
| predecessor         = ''Office established''
| term_start          = November 1947
| term_end            = 1949
| monarch             = [[Sisavang Vong]]
| primeminister       = [[Souvannarath]]<br />''Himself''
}}

[[File:S.A.R Chao Boun Oum - Prince de Champassak - Grave at Meudon - Trivaux cemetery.jpg|thumb|Funeral plate at Trivaux Cemetery in Meudon, France]]

'''Prince Boun Oum''' (also '''Prince Boun Oum [[Na Champassak]]'''; {{langx|lo|ບຸນອຸ້ມ ນະ ຈຳປາສັກ}}; {{langx|th|บุญอุ้ม ณ จัมปาศักดิ์}}; {{RTGS|''Bun-um Na Champasak''}}; 2 December 1911 – 17 March 1980) was the son of King [[Ratsadanay]], and was the hereditary prince of [[Kingdom of Champasak|Champassak]] and also [[Prime Minister of Laos|Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Laos]] from March 1948 to February 1950 and again from December 1960 to June 1962.<ref name="laohistdictionary" />

==Early life==
He was born in [[Don Talad]] in 1911, the eldest son of Prince Ratsadanay, Prince of Champassak by his fourth wife, Princess Sudhi Saramuni. He was educated at Wat Liep Monastery Sch. and l'École de Droit, [[Vientiane]]. He met Mom Bouaphanh Soumpholphakdy of Kengkok and married in 1943. The couple had six sons and three daughters: Prince Keo Champhonesak na Champassak, Prince Saysanasak na Champassak, Prince Keo Halusak na Champassak, Prince Simoungkhounsak na Champassak, Prince Vannahsak na Champassak, Prince Vongdasak na Champassak, Princess Ninhdasak na Champassak, Princess Keosondarasak na Champassak and Princess Keomanisak na Champassak. He had 11 grandchildren. He succeeded on the death of his father as Head of the Princely House of Champassak, June 1946. At the same time, he renounced his rights in order to establish a unified kingdom, the [[Kingdom of Laos]], on 27 August 1946. He was appointed the President of the [[King's Council (Laos)|Royal Council]] in 1947.<ref name="laohistdictionary">{{Cite book|url=https://epdf.pub/historical-dictionary-of-laos-historical-dictionaries-of-asia-oceania-and-the-mi.html|title=Historical Dictionary of Laos|website=epdf.pub|first=Martin|last=Stuart-Fox|isbn=978-0-8108-5624-0}}</ref> In 1949, he was appointed [[Inspector-general|Inspector-General of the Kingdom]].

==Prime Minister of Laos==
Sympathetic to the French in [[Laos]], he commanded a force of 15,000 that fought Japanese troops and the [[Lao Issara]] in the south of Laos.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Savada |first1=Andrea Matles |last2=Whitaker |first2=Donald P |title=Laos: A Country Study |date=1995 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=28 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/95017235 |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref> Titular leader of the royalist faction (and one of the [[Three Princes of the Kingdom of Laos]]), he served as Prime Minister of the [[Kingdom of Laos]] from March 1949 to February 1950 and again from December 1960 to June 1962<ref name="laohistdictionary" /> when The National Assembly installed him by unanimous vote.

He retired from politics to pursue business interests from his base in [[Pakxe|Pakse]] and [[Champasak (town)|Champassak]] but continued to be a major power broker until his exile in 1975, the year the communist [[Pathet Lao]] came to power. In 1975 he went to [[France]] for medical treatment and never returned to Laos. He died in [[Boulogne-Billancourt]], France in 1980 and his ashes are buried at the Cimetiere de Trivaux in [[Meudon]] France, next to his wife Princess Bouaphanh na Champassak (1920–2013).

==Honours==
===National honours===
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol]]. 
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown of Laos]].
* Commander of the [[Order of Civic Merit of Laos]].

===Foreign honours===
* Knight Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the White Elephant]], Thailand [special class].
* Grand Officer of the [[Royal Order of Cambodia]].
* Commander of the [[Legion of Honour]].
* [[Combatant's Cross]] (1940).
* [[Croix de Guerre]] [with palm and star] (1941).
* [[Medal of French Gratitude]] [1st class] (1946).
* [[Croix de Guerre 1939–1945]] (1946).
* [[Indochina Campaign commemorative medal]] (1954).
* [[Resistance Medal]] [2nd class] (1945).

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Boun Oum, Prince of Champasakti'''
|2= 2. Bua Laphan Ratsadany, Prince of Champasakti 
|3= 3. Princess Sudhi Saramuni
|4= 4. Nyoutithammathone, Prince of Champasakti
|5= 5. Princess Kheuakham
|6= 6. ''Chao Raja Bakinaya''
|7= 
|8= 8. Houy, Prince of Champasakti
|9= 
|10= 
|11= 
|12= 
|13= 
|14= 
|15= 
}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Boun Oum}}
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of Laos]]|before=[[Souvannarath]]|after=[[Phoui Sananikone]]|years=1949–1950}}
{{succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of Laos]]|before=[[Souvanna Phouma]]|after=[[Souvanna Phouma]]|years=1960–1962}}
{{s-end}}
{{LaosPMs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oum, Boun}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Laotian royalty|Boun Oum]]
[[Category:Laotian anti-communists]]
[[Category:People of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Laos]]
[[Category:Pretenders]]
[[Category:Laotian exiles]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]]
[[Category:People from Champasak province]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of French Gratitude]]