Jigme Palden Dorji

Jigme Palden Dorji
1st Prime Minister of Bhutan
In office
1952 – 6 April 1964
Monarch Jigme Dorji
Preceded by Position Established
Succeeded by Jigme Thinley
Personal details
Born 1919
Bhutan House, Kalimpong, India
Died 6 April 1964 (aged 44-45)
Phuntsoling Guesthouse, Bhutan
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Ashi Tsering Yangzom
Children 4
Parents Sonam Topgay Dorji
Chuni Wangmo

Dasho (Lord) Jigme Palden Dorji[1] (1919 – 6 April 1964)[2] was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck.[3]

The brother-in-law of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Dorji was close to his kinsman and accompanied the future king when he lived in the United Kingdom in 1950.[4]

Appointed Chief Minister (Gongzim) in 1952,[5] he became the first man to hold the title Prime Minister of Bhutan (Lonchen).[6] This followed the upgrading of the old position in 1958 as part of a wider series of reforms by Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.[7] As brother-in-law of the Dragon King of Bhutan Dorji helped to drive the king's modernisation polices. However his reforms antagonised both the military and the religious institutions leading to a corporal in the army assassinating him in April 1964. Namgyal Bahadur, head of the Royal Bhutan Army, was amongst those executed for the murder plot.[7]

Honours

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ Royal Ark
  2. ↑ Lindsay Brown, Bradley Mayhew, Stan Armington, Richard Whitecross, Bhutan, 2007, p. 40
  3. ↑ BHUTAN (Kingdom)
  4. ↑ Grooming of the Father of Modern Bhutan
  5. ↑ Royal Ark
  6. ↑ Bhutan
  7. 1 2 Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952-72
  8. ↑ Royal Ark
Political offices
Preceded by
office created		 Prime Minister of Bhutan
1952–1964 		Succeeded by
Lhendup Dorji
Acting


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