Loung Ung
Cambodian-American author and activist
Loung Ung is a Cambodian-American author, lecturer and human rights activist who survived the Khmer Rouge years as a child. Her memoir First They Killed My Father tells that story.
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Born 1970 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
About Loung Ung
Loung Ung was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1970, one of seven children. She lived through the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot as a child, left Cambodia at the age of 10, and was later resettled in the United States as a refugee. Her memoir First They Killed My Father was published by HarperCollins in 2000 and became a national bestseller. In 2001 the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association honored the book in its adult non-fiction category. In 2017 it was adapted into a Netflix film directed by Angelina Jolie, with a screenplay co-written by Jolie and Ung. From 1997 to 2003, Ung spoke nationally on behalf of the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World. In 2013 she also wrote for Girl Rising, a documentary about education for girls.