Pol Pot, whose actual name is Saloth Sar, was born on May 19, 1928, near Anlong Veng, Cambodia. Pol Pot’s father was a very influential person among the aristocracy. The king of Cambodia paid him frequent visits. Due to this, Pol Pot became a very patriotic nationalist who would later be willing to do anything for his country. Being the second son in his family, Pol Pot was a mediocre student. Failing to pass his exams, he was forced to learn mechanics and carpentry. After obtaining a scholarship from the government to study radio technology in Paris, Pol Pot became involved in the French Revolution and the first influences of communism began. After returning to Cambodia, Pol Pot became a prominent member of the Workers Party of Kampuchea (WPK), later becoming known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). As tensions grew between Lon Nol and the CPK, war broke out where the CPK, later known as the Khmer Rouge overthrew Lon Nol’s US backed regime and started an infamous four-year period in which the cultural heritage of Cambodia was nearly lost. After his short but terrorizing reign, Pol Pot’s regime was overthrown by the Vietnamese. He later died of heart failure on April 15, 1998.
