Phetsarath Rattanavongsa
| Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa | |||||
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| Uparaja | |||||
| Born | 19 January 1890 Luang Phrabang |
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| Died | 14 October 1959 (aged 69) Luang Phrabang |
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| Father | Bounkhong | ||||
| Mother | Thongsy | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Prince Chao Maha Oupahat Petsarath Ratanavongsa |
Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa (Somdej Chao Maha Oupahat Pethsarath Ratanavongsa lit: His Highness (the) Vice-King Phetsarath Ratanavongsa) (Lao: ເພັຊຣາຊ; 19 January 1890 – 14 October 1959) was the 1st Prime Minister of Laos from 8 April to 20 October 1945, and was the first and last vice-king of the Kingdom of Laos.
Phetsarath was born on 19 January 1890 in Luang Prabang, the second son of Oupahat Bounkhong and his second wife, Princess Thongsy. One of his younger brothers was Souvanna Phouma. Bounkong's eleventh wife was the mother of Souphanouvong. Phetsarath went to study at the colonial Lycee Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon and continued on in 1905 to the Lycée Montaigne and to the École coloniale in Paris. He returned to Laos in 1912, married Princess Nhin Kham Venne in 1913, and started working as an interpreter for his father.
In 1914, he became a clerk at the Office of the French governor in Vientiane. Two years later he was promoted to assistant secretary to the French governor. In 1919 he received the title of Somdeth Chao Ratsaphakhinay, a title held by his father and one of the highest ranks in the country. That same year he was named Director of Indigenous Affairs of Laos operating under the French governor.
As the country's last oupahat, he became a leading figure of modern Laos. He established the system of ranks and titles of the civil service, promotion and pension plans, and created a Lao consultative assembly, reorganized the king's Advisory Council. Phetsarath reorganized the administrative system of the Buddhist clergy, and established a system of schools for educating monks in Pali. He created the Institute of Law and Administration to train entry level officers (Samien) who would then move up the ladder as Phouxouei, Chao Meuang, and Chao Khoueng successively. He set up rules to reward, reassign, and promote deserving civil servants, and created the judicial system, including civil and penal codes.
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