Sosthène Fernandez | |
|---|---|
សូស្តែន ហ្វឺណានដេស | |
| Commander-in-chief ofKhmer National Armed Forces | |
| In office 1970–1975 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1923-11-28)28 November 1923 |
| Died | 11 July 2006(2006-07-11) (aged 82) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  First Kingdom of Cambodia Khmer Republic |
| Branch/service | Royal Cambodian Army Khmer National Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Commands | Chief of Police FANK Chief-of-Staff Commander-in-Chief of the ANK (1972–1975) |
Lieutenant generalSosthène Fernandez (Khmer:សូស្តែន ហ្វឺណានដេស;[1] born on 28 November 1923 inPhnom Penh;[citation needed] died 2006 in France) was the Commander-in-Chief of theKhmer National Armed Forces (FANK) and chief of general staff of theKhmer Republic afterPrince Sihanouk wasdeposed as head of state in 1970. Prior to 1970, he was a prominent politician and a former chief of the police.
General Fernandez was born inPhnom Penh[citation needed] to Samson Fernandez, a magistrate and Health and Justice Minister ofFilipino descent, and an ethnicKhmer mother born inVietnam.[2][3]
A grandson of a band master in the royal court, General Fernandez's Filipino roots traces back toSan Narciso in the Philippine province ofZambales. KingNorodom I made a royal visit to the Philippines in 1872, and brought with him Filipino musicians on his return to Cambodia. Among them was Ángel Labrador Fernández, a native of San Narciso, and amaestro who helped form and train the Royal Reed and Brass Band for King Norodom's court. Ángel's son, Samson, briefly joined the teaching service and was naturalized as a French subject in 1915 and took up law studies, and by 1928 was appointed as a local magistrate. In the 1940s, he co-founded the Liberal Party along withPrince Norindeth, and was elected to parliament in 1951 and served under various ministry portfolios, notably became the Health and Justice Minister of Cambodia in the 1950s and 1960s.[4][5]
General Fernandez graduated and commissioned in the French military in 1947, and was assigned in Battambang where he met his wife.[6] In the 1960s Colonel Fernandez served as Secretary of State for National Security.[7]
In 1975, because of the cutting of US aid, the republican government's leaders wanted to stop the war unconditionally. However, Fernandez refused to negotiate with the Khmer Rouge if the government ordered FANK to lay down their arms during the negotiation; for this reason, he resigned as army chief. Fernandez andLon Nol left the country before theKhmer Rouge took Phnom Penh in 1975. All the republicans wanted to stop theCivil War in Cambodia. Several others officials such asLong Boret,Lon Non and PrinceSisowath Sirik Matak remained in office until the Khmer Rougecaptured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975, thinking that they would be spared through the intercession ofNorodom Sihanouk, who had sided with the communists. However, Long, Lon, and Prince Sirik Matak and other Khmer Republic officials were summarily executed by the victorious Khmer Rouge which has been commanded (dictated) by their communist organization ofAngkar.
In 1998, General Fernandez returned to Cambodia to meet his former soldiers, and wrote a book about his life as the Commander-in-Chief of the Khmer National Armed Forces. He later left the country to become a roving ambassador.
In 2006, Fernandez died in France, aged 82, due to complications from diabetes.[8]