Claire Ly

Claire Ly (born 25 October 1946)[1] is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide currently residing in France.

Claire Ly
Claire Ly
Born
Ky Chhay-Hun

(1946-10-25) 25 October 1946 (age 79)
Battambang, Cambodia
CitizenshipFrench
Known forSurviving the Cambodian genocide
Spouse
Ly Chéany
​
(died 1975)​
Children3
AwardsKnight of the Legion of Honour (2009)
Religious life
ReligionBuddhism (until 1983)
Christianity
DenominationCatholicism
Writing career
LanguageFrench
GenresMemoir, children's literature
Notable workRevenue de l'enfer (English: Back from Hell, 2002)
Retour au Cambodge (English: Return to Cambodia, 2007)
Websitewww.clairely.com (in French)

Claire Ly (born 25 October 1946)[1] is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide currently residing in France.

Life in Cambodia

Ly was born in Battambang, Cambodia[2] to a well off family. Her given name at birth in Khmer was Chhay-Hun,[3] which means cloud light at dawn (lumière de nuage à l'aurore).[4] She went on to study law and philosophy at university.[1]

Ly started working as a philosophy teacher in Phnom Penh in 1968, before the Khmer Rouge regime took power in 1975.[4] Ly was detained at a forced-labour camp between 1975 and 1979. She fled Cambodia in 1979, seeking refuge at a refugee camp in Thailand before arriving in Alès, France in 1980.[5] Ly has resided in France ever since.[6]

Life in France

Ly continued teaching as she settled in France. She lectures on Buddhism at the Institute of Science and Theology of Religions in Marseille.[7] She has written and given public speeches about her experience of the Cambodian genocide. Ly has criticised the International Criminal Court's failure to bring justice to victims and survivors of the genocide.[8][5]

Writing career

Ly wrote about her experience of the genocide in her memoir, Revenue de l'Enfer (English: Back from Hell), first published in 2002. Originally written in French, the book has been translated to Italian and Polish.[9][10] She went on to write Retour au Cambodge (English: Return to Cambodia) and La Mangrove (English: The Mangrove), published in 2007 and 2011, respectively. She also wrote a children's book, Kosâl & Moni (2007), which tells the story of two young Cambodian kids learning about the Cambodian genocide.[9]

Personal life

Ly's husband Ly Chéany, was a bank manager and did not survive the genocide.[5] Her father, Ky Sean Ho, and two of her brothers, Hun Thieng and Hok Bien, were also killed.[1][8][11] She has three children,[10] one of whom, a daughter, was born during her internment at the labour camp without ever meeting her father.[5]

Raised in the Buddhist faith, Ly converted to Catholicism in 1983. Despite this, she never let go of her Buddhist roots.[6] She describes her religious identity as an intra-religious dialogue: "I am not Christian and Buddhist but a Catholic Christian born Buddhist, an important nuance."[7]

Ly was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2009.[10][12] She was honoured with a tree and a memorial stone in the Garden of the Righteous in Milan in 2012.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Claire Ly". en.gariwo.net. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  2. ^ "Biographie de Claire Ly". www.clairely.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  3. ^ Delaunay, Emmanuel (2018-02-13). "CLAIRE LY: REVENUE DE L'ENFER. QUATRE ANS DANS LES CAMPS KHMERS ROUGES – RECENSION D'EMMANUEL DELAUNAY". Mémoires d'Indochine. Retrieved 2026-06-18.
  4. ^ a b Ly, Claire (June 2004). "J'ai découvert Dieu dans l'enfer des camps: Interview parue dans Panorama, juin 2004" [I discovered God in the hell of the camps: Interview published in Panorama, June 2004]. www.clairely.com (Interview) (in French). Interviewed by Anne Ponce. Retrieved 2026-06-18.
  5. ^ a b c d "Forgiveness over Khmer Rouge: a journey or an obligation? A Beginning of Dialogue". Quaker Theology. 13 (2). 2014. ISSN 1526-7482. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  6. ^ a b "Claire, the woman who became a Christian in Pol Pot's Cambodian killing fields". La Stampa. 2013-06-08. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  7. ^ a b Ly, Claire (2008). "From Cambodia To Emmaus" (PDF). UISG Bulletin (138). International Union of Superiors General: 46–52.
  8. ^ a b Figni, Carolina (30 January 2013). ""Deep down in the human heart there is goodness"". en.gariwo.net. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  9. ^ a b "Livres écrits par Claire Ly". www.clairely.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  10. ^ a b c "About the Contributors, #25 – Quaker Theology". 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  11. ^ Ly, Claire (2007). Retour au Cambodge: le chemin de liberté d'une survivante des Khmers rouges [Return to Cambodia: The path to freedom of a Khmer Rouge survivor] (in French). Paris: Atelier. p. 7. ISBN 978-2-7082-3896-1. À la mémoire de
    Ky Sean Ho, mon père
    Ly Chéany, mon époux
    Ky Hun Thieng, mon frère aîné
    Ky Hok Bien, mon frère cadet
    Ly Vou Ong, mon beau-père
    Assassinés en 1975.
  12. ^ La-Croix.com (2009-04-13). "Légion d'honneur, la promotion de Pâques". La Croix (in French). Retrieved 2026-03-26.

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