Pictorial of Viet Nam's first Government leader published

Pictorial of Viet Nam's first Government leader published

VietNamNet Bridge – A pictorial entitled the Chairman of the Council of Ministers containing nearly 300 valuable documentary photos of life, revolutionary activities and national revolutionary leader, Pham Hung has been published by the Vietnam News Agency on the 100th anniversary of his birth this year.

Pham Hung was the first Government leader in the Renewal Process after the 6th national Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. (Photo: VNS)

The photos were collected from the Vietnam News Agency photo archive, museums nationwide, his family and many other sources.

It is expected to help readers learn more about Pham Hung, an excellent student of President Ho Chi Minh, from his teenage years when he was studying at College de My Tho, to his revolutionary activity up until the time the country gained peace.

Pham Hung, whose registered birth name was Pham Van Thien, was born into a farming family in southern Ving Long Province in June 11, 1912.

He devoted nearly 60 years of his life to Viet Nam's revolutionary cause. He was arrested by French colonialists, sentenced to death and exiled to Con Dao, an island that housed political prisoners. For nearly 15 years of being detained in colonial prisons, Pham Hung never ceased his struggle.

With his unyielding will, creative thought and burning revolutionary enthusiasm, Pham Hung was entrusted with many important tasks during the struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as during the national reconstruction and development period.

He held important posts such as Secretary of the Central Office for South Viet Nam, Head of the Central Reunification Committee, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of As the Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1987, he was the first person to lead the Government in the Renewal Process after the 6th national Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

Viewers will have the opportunity to see images of the revolutionist in prison, his trips together with President Ho Chi Minh in the northernmost Viet Nam Base and with leaders of the southern party committee steering the fight against the French in the southern region.

The book captures the portrait of a revolutionist as "a man of steel" in the face of enemies and a dedicated leader who sacrificed himself for the country and people.

* Workshop to discuss scholar's contribution to romanised Vietnamese script

A workshop to discuss the significant contributions of scholar Nguyen Van Vinh to the development of the Vietnamese language will be held on Friday in Ha Noi.

Entitled Nguyen Van Vinh and The Journey of romanised Vietnamese script, the workshop will also discuss how to form a national-level scientific committee which would have the aim of valuing Vinh's cultural career and his efforts to spread the romanised Vietnamese script in the country at a time when Chinese-based ideograph characters were the norm.

Born to a poor family in Ha Noi, Vinh (1882-1936) was the top student at the College des Intrepretes (College of Interpreters) in Ha Noi during the 1893-95 term. He then worked for different French authority offices in the North before moving on to open the city's first printing house in 1907.

At the same time, Vinh published the Dai Nam Dong Van Nhat Bao newspaper, which means "the daily newspaper of Dai Nam with the use of a common language." The newspaper was the first publication in the Vietnamese language in the North.

During that time, Vinh also joined movements against the colonial authority that led to the forced closure of his newspaper by the French in 1908.

From 1908-19, he published Notre Journal (Our Daily), Notre Revue (Our Magazine), Luc Tinh Tan Van (Modern Literature of Six Southern Provinces), and the weekly Dong Duong Magazine.

In 1927, he founded the La pensee de l'Occident (Western European Opinion), which published his translated books.

Forced into bankruptcy in 1932, Vinh immigrated to Laos where he died of malaria in May 1936 while working on his memoir Un mois avec des chercheurs d'or (A Month Living with the Golden Diggers).

The workshop on his career will take place at 53 Nguyen Du Street from 1.30pm with the participation of historians and researchers as well as members of his family.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News