Huỳnh Tấn Phát

Huỳnh Tấn Phát (born 1913, near Mỹ Tho, French Indochina – died 30 September 1989, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) was a South Vietnamese communist politician and revolutionary. He was a member of the First National Assembly (Democratic Republic of Vietnam), chairman of the Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, and, after unification, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam.^[1]

He joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in March 1945, and began revolutionary activities in Saigon, whereupon he was appointed Deputy Director of Information and Press Committee for the South. When the French re-occupied Saigon after World War II, they had him arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. Upon his release he resumed his revolutionary activities and in 1949 was appointed commissioner UBKCHC south, and the District Commissioner UBKCHC for Saigon - Cholon.^[2]

He became chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) on its formation in 1969. Upon the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on 30 April 1975, the PRG became the nominal government of South Vietnam. He held this post until 2 July 1976, when the country was reunified with the North, making him the only communist South Vietnamese prime minister. From 1976 to 1982 he was a vice premier in Vietnam, and in 1982 he became a Vice President of the Council of State.^[2]

For his devotion to the revolution he was awarded the Medal of Ho Chi Minh.^[2]

Notes

1. Ronald B. Frankum Jr. Historical Dictionary of the War in Vietnam 2011 p.211 "During the August 1945 revolution, Huỳnh Tấn Phát joined the fighting in sar Gun and was arrested for the first of many times, which ultimately forced him to go into hiding in 1949. He served with the Viét Minh as the director of the Information ..."
2. "Tinh Ben Tre - Huỳnh Tấn Phát (1913 – 1989)" (in Vietnamese). Vietnam: Ben Tre Province official website. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011.