Sam Rainsy - Family

Family

Sam Rainsy's father, Sam Sary had served as a minister in the Education, planning and finance portfolios before becoming a Deputy Prime Minister in Sihanouk's government in the 1950s. Sam Rainsy's grandfather, Sam Nhean had served as the President of the Royal Council of Cambodia and was a prominent member of the Democratic Party (Cambodia) in the 1940s. In Em was quoted to be the first Cambodian woman to have completed the Baccalauréat exam and was reportedly the scion of the Thiounn family, who were of Vietnamese-Khmer heritage. Sam Rainsy is married to Tioulong Samura, who is also member of parliament for his current party, and has three children: Patrice Sam, Muriel Sam and Rachel Sam. Tioulong Samura's father, Nhiek Tioulong was a military general who founded the Khmer Renovation party and briefly served as an Acting Prime Minister in 1962. Both Sam Rainsy and his wife claimed to having Chinese ancestry, the former having revealed that one of his great-great grandfather was a Chinese immigrant, while Nhiek Tioulong revealed that he had a Chinese grandfather during a dialogue session with Zhou Enlai in 1954.