Đinh Đăng Định (20 April 1920 – 11 August 2013) was the personal photographer to

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

. He also co-founded the Vietnam Artistic Photographer's Association (VAPA) with Lâm Tấn Tài.

Early years

Định was born in Kiêu Kỵ,

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, Vietnam.

Career

Anti-French Resistance (1936–1945)

In 1936, Định joined the anti-French resistance. However, it wasn't until 1941 when

set up at anti-Japanese base at

Pác Bó Pác Bó is a small village in Cao Bằng province, northern Vietnam, 3 km from the Chinese border. "Pác Bó" in Tày language means “the beginning of the source”. Near this village is a cave, ''Hang Cốc Bó'' (today often called ''H ...

that Định was allowed to photograph political activities.

Personal photographer to Ho Chi Minh (1945 - 1969)

Định became the personal photographer to Ho Chi Minh, taking the first official portrait of him on 2 September 1945 in

. The portrait was meant to be distributed to the public to publicise his identity. From 1945 onwards, Định would accompany Ho Chi Minh to capture images of his meetings with French colonial commanders and other high-ranking members of the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...

as well as document people's support of Ho's resistance movement. Định worked in the Party's Central Office, taking photos of Ho Chi Minh until he died in 1969. While in Hanoi, Định founded the Vietnam Artistic Photographer's Association (VAPA) on 8 December 1965.

Ho Chi Minh Trail (1974–1975)

After Ho's death, Định was tasked to go South and document route 9 of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Accolades

In 2000, Định was awarded the

Ho Chi Minh Prize Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri Mo ...

for his contributions to photography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinh, Dang Dinh 1920 births 2013 deaths Vietnamese photographers Vietnamese independence activists Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese revolutionaries