Nguyễn Hữu Thọ

Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ in 1932
President of Vietnam (Acting)
In office 30 March 1980 – 4 July 1981
Preceded by	Tôn Đức Thắng
Succeeded by	Trường Chinh
Chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam
In office 6 June 1969 – 25 July 1976
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Tôn Đức Thắng
Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam
In office 26 April 1981 – 19 April 1987
Preceded by	Trường Chinh
Succeeded by	Lê Quang Đạo
Vice President of Vietnam
In office 25 April 1976 – 19 July 1992
Preceded by	Nguyễn Lương Bằng (as Vice President)
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Thị Bình
Personal details
Born	10 July 1910 Bến Lức District, Long An Province, French Indochina
Died	24 December 1996 (aged 86) Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Nationality	Vietnamese
Political party	Communist Party of Vietnam
Awards

Nguyễn Hữu Thọ (10 July 1910, Bến Lức District – 24 December 1996, Hanoi) was the Chairman of Consultative Council of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam from 6 June 1969 to 25 April 1976, and the Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam from 4 July 1981 to 18 June 1987.

Life and career

A French-educated lawyer in Cochinchina, Thọ was also a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and a participant in the Vietnamese fight for independence. He joined the Vietnamese National Popular League (or Liên Việt) in 1948, Communist Party in 1949, and was kept in detention from 1950–52. He later came to support the 1954 Geneva agreements, but opposed the government of South Vietnam's president, Ngô Đình Diệm. In August 1954, he founded the Committee in Defense of Peace and the Geneva Agreements. The committee was crushed and banned by the South Vietnamese government in November the same year, and Thọ and other members of the organization were jailed after a police raid.^[1][2]

He remained in detention until 1961, when he managed to escape. Free, Thọ became Chairman of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front. In 1965, he delivered an anti-imperialist speech, a booklet was later published in English, entitled SPEECH. His title was given as: President of the Presidium of the Consultative Council of the South Viet Nam [sic] National Front for Liberation on the 5th founding anniversary of the N.F.L. In 1969, he came Chairman of the Consultative Council of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, a post he retained until South Vietnam was incorporated into North Vietnam in 1976.

In the newly re-unified Vietnam, he served as one of the vice presidents until the death of Tôn Đức Thắng, when he was named acting president (April 1980 — July 1981), a post he held until the appointment of Trường Chinh, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, in July 1981. On relinquishing the post of president, he assumed the role of Chairman of the National Assembly until 1987. He was vice-chairman of the council of state 1981-92. Thọ was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1983–84). Nguyen died on 24 December 1996 when he was 86.

References

1. Kiernan, Ben. How Pol Pot Came to Power. London: Verso, 1985. pp. 170-71
2. Nghia M. Vo - Saigon: A History 2011- Page 140 "In a clearing in the Tây Ninh province about 80 miles west of Saigon, on December 19 to 20, 1960, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a Saigon lawyer, Trương Như Tảng, chief comptroller of a bank, Drs. Dương Quỳnh Hoa and Phùng Văn Cung, along with other dissidents, met with communists to form the National Liberation Front..."

External links

• Interview with Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, 1981 (Video Interview) WGBH Media Library & Archives