Norodom Buppha Devi was a Cambodian princess, dancer, director of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, senator, and Minister of Culture and Fine Arts. She was born in 1943, the eldest daughter of the late King Norodom Sihanouk, and was the half-sister of the current King Norodom Sihamoni.
Encouraged as a young child by her grandmother, Queen Sisowath Kossamak, she became the premiere dancer of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia at the age of 15. When she was 18, she received the title of prima ballerina. As principal dancer of the Royal Ballet, she toured the world for many years, living in exile in China, Korea and France. It was only after the Paris Peace Accords ended two violent decades of unrest in the country, sparked by the US's carpet bombing, that she returned to Cambodia with her father in 1991. She had spent almost ten years with Cambodian refugees in camps on Thai territory, helping young people find hope again through classical Khmer dance. From 1991, Buppha Devi held various public offices, including that of Minister of Culture and Fine Arts.
Buppha Devi's inspiration goes far beyond royal palaces and international festivals. As a patron of the arts, she also supported the dance conservatory in Banteay Srei, the Sacred Dancers of Angkor, which was founded in 2007 by Ravynn Karet-Coxen. The Sacred Dancers of Angkor are the first and only spiritual dance troupe in Cambodia.
Princess Buppha Devi died at the age of 76 as a result of an illness.
