Revolutionary Schools of Indochina Part 1 - Lycée Sisowath, Phnom Penh

This is the favoured after-school snack spot in the grounds of Phnom Penh's elite Sisowath High School. Lycee Sisowath has long been among the city's most prestigious schools. But it's also where some the twentieth century's most loathed tyrants were educated. Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot, Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan were all schooled here. The French colonial administration created a system of elite schools in the early twentieth century for the development of a class of civil servants, Lycée Sisowath was one of them. The original French school on the site dates back to 1873. French plans backfired in a big way - as they did elsewhere in Indochina. The Sisowath alumni list isn't all bad though. Far from it. Celebrated Khmer architect Vann Molyvann and Cambodia's queen mother, Norodom Monineath Sihanouk (King Sihanouk's widowed wife and mother of present King Sihamoni) were also schooled here, as was current Cambodian opposition leader, Sam Rainsey. There were many others. Vietnamese revolutionary leader Nguyen Thi Binh also studied here. She went on to become Vietnam's National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) representative at the Paris Peace Conference in 1973, that saw the withdrawal of US troops from the country. She was vice president of Vietnam from 1992 to 2002. The school is located in downtown Phnom Penh.