Heng Samrin (born 1934) was a relatively minor Cambodian Communist leader who suddenly, in January 1979, rose to international prominence as president of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) after the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of his country. His earlier obscurity had left him untainted by the odious reputation of the bloody Pol Pot regime which had preceded him.

Heng Samrin was born on May 25, 1934, the son of a well to do peasant-trader in the Ponhea district of Kompong Cham province. Some accounts also list a hamlet in Prey Veng province as the abode of his youth. He attended local schools, and it is not certain that he completed any secondary level of education. In the early 1950s he joined a group of Cambodians who were fighting together with the Viet Minh against the French colonial government. Official statements claim membership for him both in the Khmer People's Revolutionary Party...