Rangsit, Prince of Chainat - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rangsit Prayurasakdi, Prince of Chainat or Somdej Phra Chao Boromawongse Ther Krom Phraya Jainad Narendhorn (12 November 1885 - 7 March 1951) was the Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

Founder of the Public Health Ministry and Prince Regent

Prince Regent

A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....

Early life

Prince Rangsit was born as the 52nd child of King Chulalongkorn

Chulalongkorn

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...

and the second child of Chao Chom Manda Nueng (common name Mom Rajawongse Nueng Snidvongs), the 22nd wife of Chulalongkorn. After the early death of his mother, Prince Rangsit and his elder sister Princess Yaovabha Bhonghsanids were adopted by Queen Savang Vadhana

Savang Vadhana

Queen Savang Vadhana of Siam was a consort of King Chulalongkorn or Rama V. Her full name and title was Queen Sri Savarindira - thus she was not the Rajini , but just was a highest consort...

. As a result, he grew up as a half-brother and childhood friend of Prince Mahidol

Mahidol Adulyadej

Mahitaladhibes Adulyadejvikrom, the Prince Father , or officially styled Mahidol Adulyadej, Prince of Songkla was the father of King Ananda Mahidol and King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. He was also regarded as the father of modern medicine and public health of Thailand...

. He started his education at the Royal School in the Grand Palace. At the age of 14, he was sent to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

for his education. At first the Martineum gymnasium in Halberstadt

Halberstadt

Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....

where he graduated with Abitur

Abitur

Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

in 1905 and later Heidelberg-University in Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

. Though he was more interested in medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, his father insisted on an education in jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

, which he completed at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg

The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is a public research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany and was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution...

. He additionally studied philosophy in 1908. It was during his study that he met his wife, Elisabeth Scharnberger (15 September 1892 - 29 September 1973), a German woman whom he married in London on 28 August 1912. The couple had two sons and one daughter:

HSH Prince Piyarangsit Rangsit (25 December 1913 - 1 February 1990)
HSH Prince Sanidh Prayurasakdi Rangsit (19 August 1917 - 10 September 1995)
HSH Princess Charulaksana Kalyani Rangsit (b. 7 August 1924). She relinquished her royal title to marry a commoner on 28 June 1945.

Life in Siam

After returning to Siam in 1913, during the reign of his elder brother King Vajiravhud, Prince Rangsit worked to improve Siam’s health care

Health care

Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

system. Today, a statue of Prince Rangsit stands in front of Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health

Ministry of Public Health (Thailand)

The Ministry of Public Health , is a Thai government body responsible for the oversight of Public Health in Thailand.-External links:* - Official Website in Thai* - Official Website in English...

, of which he is the founding father. He also worked to improve the nation's university system, serving as the first Director-General of the University Affairs Department, and the Chairman of the Committee on Planning and Development of Chulalongkorn University.

Following the Siamese Revolution of 1932

Siamese Revolution of 1932

The Siamese Revolution of 1932 or the Siamese Coup d'état of 1932 was a crucial turning point in Thai history in the 20th century...

, Prince Rangsit did not involve himself in politics, but was nevertheless seen as a threat by the Pro-Fascist military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

of Major General Phibunsongkhram

Plaek Pibulsonggram

Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...

, which arrested the Prince under charges of treason in 1938

Songsuradet Rebellion

The Songsuradet Rebellion also known as the Rebellion of 18 corpses was an important Thai historical event in 1939. Phraya Songsuradet actually did not instigate the rebellion or coup in any way yet it was named after him...

. This was possibly due to his position as the most senior prince remaining in the country at the time. In prison he spent much of his time in meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

and in the writing of a journal

Diary

A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

which recounts his childhood

Childhood

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...

memories and experiences of traveling to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

for the first time in 1899. On 28 September 1943, having been jailed for 4 years and 9 months, Prince Rangsit was released by the Phibun-government (1 year prior to the release of other political prisoners). Along with the release of Phibun's other political prisoners, Prince Rangsit's titles were permanently restored to him by the Khuang

Khuang Abhaiwongse

Major Luang Khuang Abhaiwongse was three times the prime minister of Thailand.Khuang was born in Battambang now belonging to Cambodia as the son of the Siamese governor of the province Battambang, Chao Phraya Abhayabhubet...

-Pridi government which came to power following Phibun's forced resignation in May 1944.
Prince Rangsit is reputed to have had a significant role in ensuring the continuity of the Thai royal family in its transitory phase from the uncertainties which followed the abdication

Abdication

Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...

of (his younger half-brother) King Rama VII to the Coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

of his two nephews King Ananda Mahidol

Ananda Mahidol

Ananda Mahidol was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly, in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. Six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot...

and King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
After King Ananda Mahidols mysterious death in the Grand Palace, Prince Bhumipol, the second child of Rangsit's half-brother Prince Mahidol, was appointed as the new king. Since the new king at first planned to finish his education abroad, Prince Rangsit was appointed as Regent on June 16, 1946, as well as chairman of the Supreme Council of State since 1947.

Death

In March 1951, Prince Rangsit died of a heart attack while in bed at Vidyu Palace on Wireless Road in Bangkok. At his death, he was the last surviving son of King Chulalongkorn

Chulalongkorn

, having lived 65 years and four months. He was also known to be a great collector of Thai antiques and art works.

The Rangsit canal

Khlong Rangsit

Rangsit Prayurasakdi Canal is a canal in the eastern part of the Chao Phraya valley, central Thailand. The name of the canal was given by King Chulalongkorn in honour of his son Rangsit, Prince of Chainat....

and the outskirts of Bangkok known as Rangsit were named in honour of this prince during his lifetime, although the highway in Bangkok known as Vibhavadi Rangsit is named after his daughter in law, HRH Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit.

Early life

Life in Siam

Death

Further reading