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111  The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 Prince Damrongrajanubhab and Thai Literature Panya Borisutdhi 1 Panya Borisutdhi Abstract Prince Damrongrajanubhab is generally well-known as a government administrator and as the Father of Thai history, but his contribution to Thai literature is also very considerable. This essay aims to brie fl y give his biography, to relate how his literary works have bene fi ted the fi eld of Thai literature, and to give some of his signi fi cant works as examples to demonstrate his genius in the literary art. Keywords: Prince Damrong, his contribution to Thai Literature His biography HRH Prince Damrongrajanubhab, from now on referred to as Prince Damrong, was the son of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Chao Chom Manda Chum. He was born in the Grand Palace on the 21 st of June 1862. He was named Prince Disavarakumar. The name Damrongrajanubhab was granted later by King Rama V. When he was young, he studied the Thai language with Khun Sang and Khun Pan. He also studied Pali with Phraya Pariyatidhammadhada (Piam) and Luang Dhammanuvatichamnong (Chui). From the age of ten, he studied English with an English teacher, Mr. Francis George Patterson, whom King Mongkut employed for teaching the young princes in the Grand Palace. When he was thirteen, he studied for one year at the Royal Household Guards school, which completed his formal education (MC Poon Pisamai Diskul, 1962). Some may wonder why Prince Damrong who did not have an extensive formal education was so learned and was so well-versed in many fi elds. He was so erudite because he had been educating himself all through his life. As the year 2012 marks the 150 th anniversary of Prince Damrong, it is therefore appropriate to write about him and his works. 1 Fellow of the Royal Institute, Academy of Arts