Although Pol Pot is dead and has not actually been in power for two decades, his effect on Cambodia continues. Cambodia has not yet been able to recover from the Khmer Rouge regime and the civil war that resulted from their overthrow. Brightman (1998) noted that some of the results of the Khmer Rouge regime can never be overturned. They eliminated certain strains of rice, destroyed old books, costumes, masks, and icons, and attempted to create a homogenized society reflecting agrarian and Communist values. The leader of that effort was Pol Pot.
It is somewhat surprising that Pol Pot became the Communist tyrant that he did given his background. He was born in 1925 to a family of Khmer peasants who had royal connections. One of his cousins became a palace dancer and his sister was actually a a royal consort. His oldest brother began a palace career when Pol Pot was young, bringing Pol Pot into the palace with him when he was six years old. Pol Pot was actually born Saloth Sar and he was the youngest of seven children (Kiernan, 1998).
Saloth Sar had a relatively strict upbringing in that environment. With his connections, he was able to obtain a scholarship to study in Paris in 1948. It was at this point that Saloth Sar became aware of racism. Race and racism were to become major issues in his life, affecting his philosophy, ideology, and actions (Kiernan, 1996).
It was also in Paris that Saloth Sar became a revolutionary in the French Communist Party. It was here that he took the name Pol Pot for himself. Pol Pot means "the original Cambodian." There is very little known about his personality at this point. He was described as charming and self effacing, and acquaintances indicated that he liked going to movies (Chandler, 1993).
Pol Pot failed in his studies and was sent home in 1953, which probably had a major effect on his personality and development. He became a teacher and revolutionary in Cambodia. At t...