the party has its origins in the communist party of indochina founded by ho chi minh in 1930 (see communist party of vietnam). the icp was entirely vietnamese at its beginning, but it grew throughout french indochina. the communist party of indochina was able to found a small "lao section" in 1936. in the mid-1940s, a campaign to recruit laotian members began. in 1946 or 1947, kaysone phomvihan, a law student at the university of hanoi, was recruited, along with nouhak phoumsavan.