Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Varman (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ) (lahir 31 Oktober 1922 – meninggal 15 Oktober 2012 pada umur 89 tahun) merupakan mantan Raja Kamboja. Setelah turun tahta pada 7 Oktober 2004 ia mengambil gelar "Raja-Ayah" (Khmer: Preahmâhaviraksat). Ia dilahirkan di Phnom Penh, putra Pangeran Norodom Suramarit dan Putri Sisowath Kossamak. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិSepanjang sejarah Kamboja yang berceramuk Sihanouk memegang banyak jabatan sehingga Guinness Book of World Records mencatat bahwa Norodom Sihanouk sebagai ahli politik yang memegang jabatan politik paling banyak. Ini termasuk dua periode sebagai raja, satu periode sebagai presiden, dua periode sebagai perdana menteri, dan satu periode sebagai kepala negara tanpa gelaran di Kamboja, termasuk pelbagai jabatan sebagai ketua dalam pelbagai pemerintahan dalam pengasingan. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Ketika Sihanouk lahir, Kerajaan Kamboja berstatus sebagai protektorat Perancis dan menjadi bagian dari koloni Indochina Perancis. Sihanouk mengikuti pelajaran dasar di sekolah dasar Phnom Penh, École François Baudouin, melanjutkan pelajaran menengah di Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat, Saigon (sekarang Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam dan kemudian masuk Akademi Kavaleri Militer di Saumur, Perancis. Saat kakek dari ibundanya, Raja Sisowath Monivong, meninggal pada 23 April 1941, Dewan Mahkota (Crown Council) melantik Pangeran Sihanouk sebagai Raja Kamboja, dan dinobatkan pada bulan September tahun yang sama. Beredar desas desus bahwa pelantikan Norodom Sihanouk sebagai raja disebabkan oleh pengaruh atau tekanan Perancis, dikarenakan ia masih muda dan belum berpengalaman, sehingga dianggap mudah untuk diatur. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Sihanouk meninggal setelah serangan jantung di Beijing, Cina pada tanggal 15 Oktober 2012, usia 89. Dia telah menerima perawatan medis di sana sejak Januari untuk sejumlah masalah kesehatan, termasuk kanker usus besar, diabetes, dan hipertensi.[3] Bendera Kamboja dikibarkan setengah tiang, dan saat Raja Norodom Sihamoni serta Perdana Menteri Hun Sen pergi ke Beijing untuk membawa pulang jenazah Sihanouk untuk pemakaman di Istana Kerajaan. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Norodom Sihanouk (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ; 31 October 1922 – 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2005. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was known as "The King-Father of Cambodia" (Khmer: Preahmâhaviraksat), a position in which he retained many of his former responsibilities as constitutional monarch. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
The son of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Sisowath Kossamak, Sihanouk held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices. These included two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. He served as puppet head of state for the Khmer Rouge government in 1975–1976. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Most of these positions were only honorific, including the last position as constitutional king of Cambodia. Sihanouk's actual period of effective rule over Cambodia was from 9 November 1953, when Cambodia gained its independence from France, until 18 March 1970, when General Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed him. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Sihanouk received his primary education in a Phnom Penh primary school. He pursued his secondary education in Saigon at Lycée Chasseloup Laubat until his coronation and then later attended Cavalry military school in Saumur, France. When his maternal grandfather, King Sisowath Monivong, died on 23 April 1941, the Crown Council selected Prince Sihanouk as King of Cambodia. At that time, the French protectorate of Cambodia was part of French Indochina, ruled by the Axis collaborationist Vichy government. His coronation took place on 3 May 1941. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
In March 1945, the Empire of Japan, which had occupied Cambodia but allowed the French colonial administration to remain, dissolved the colonial administration and took control of French Indochina. Under pressure from the Japanese, Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence. Unlike the Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại, Sihanouk was careful not to compromise himself too much in collaboration with Japan. The Japanese imposed Son Ngoc Thanh as foreign minister then, in August, as prime minister of Cambodia. After Japan's surrender, the French gradually retook control of French Indochina. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
Sihanouk reportedly had several wives and concubines, producing at least fourteen children in a period of eleven years.[citation needed] According to Time (30 June 1956), however, his legal wives were Princess Samdech Norleak (married 1955) and Paule Monique Izzi (married 1955), who is a step-granddaughter of HRH Prince Norodom Duongchak of Cambodia and the younger daughter of Pomme Peang and her second husband, Jean-François Izzi, a banker. A profile of Sihanouk in The New York Times (4 June 1993, page A8) stated that the King met Monique Izzi in 1951, when he awarded her a prize in a beauty pageant. បុណ្យឯករាជ្យជាតិ
