Chirapravati Voradej จิรประวัติวรเดช |
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Prince of Siam Prince of Nakhon Chaisi |
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HRH Prince Chirapravati Voradej
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Minister of Defence | |
In office | 11 December 1910 - 4 February 1913 |
Appointed | King Vajiravudh |
Predecessor | Bhanurangsi Savangwongse |
Successor | Arun Chatrakul |
Commander of Military Operations | |
In office | 8 August 1901 - 11 December 1910 |
Appointed | King Chulalongkorn |
Predecessor | Narisara Nuwattiwong |
Successor | title merged |
Born |
Bangkok, Siam |
11 July 1876
Died | 2 April 1913 Bangkok, Siam |
(aged 36)
Spouse |
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Issue | 5 Children
See list
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House | Chirapravati family (Chakri Dynasty) |
Father | Chulalongkorn (Rama V) |
Mother | Thapthim Rochanatisha |
Military career | |
Service/ |
Royal Siamese Army |
Rank | Field Marshal |
Field Marshal Prince Chirapravati Voradej, Prince of Nakhon Chaisi (Thai: พระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธอ พระองค์เจ้าจิรประวัติวรเดช กรมหลวงนครไชยศรีสุรเดช) was a prince of the Chakri Dynasty and influential military officer of Siam. The prince was a son of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and Chao Chom Manda Thapthim Rochanatisha, he was the king's 17th child.
The prince was part of the first group of the king's sons sent to Europe to study, spending time there from 1885 - 1896. After his return to Siam, he served as the Commander of the Department of Military Operation (Commander of the Army) and Minister of Defence under his father and his brother, King Vajiravudh (Rama VI). Because of his important and modernising reforms of the Royal Siamese Army, he is now considered the 'Father of the Thai Army'. His descendants uses the surname Chirapravati (จิรประวัติ ณ อยุธยา).
Prince Chirapravati Voradej was born on 7 November 1876 at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The 17th child of King Chulalongkorn and Chao Chom Manda (consort mother) Thapthim Rochanatisha. The king and Thapthim would have two children more children: Princess Praves Vorasamai (1879-1944) and Prince Vudhijaya Chalermlabha (1883-1947). He was given the title of Phra Ong Chao upon birth, which signified his birth as a son of a king and a commoner mother.
The prince was educated in the palace's inner court, once he was older he was educated at the royal pages school (Suankularb Wittayalai School). In 1885 the prince together with three elder brothers (the king's four eldest), Princes Kitiyakara Voralaksana, Raphi Phatthanasak, and Pravitra Vadhanodom were sent to the United Kingdom for further study. The four princes were the first of the king's (many) sons to be sent abroad for study. Crown Prince Maha Vajirunhis wrote in his diary on the 30 June 1885: