Nguyễn Lưu Viên (; 21November 191918September 2017) was a South Vietnamese doctor and politician who served as

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Prime Minister of South Vietnam under various prime ministers. He also served as

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

under Prime Ministers

Nguyễn Khánh Nguyễn Khánh (}; 8 November 192711 January 2013) was a South Vietnamese military dictator and Army of the Republic of Vietnam general who served in various capacities as head of state and prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head o ...

and

Trần Văn Hương Trần Văn Hương (; 1 December 1902 – 27 January 1982) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the penultimate president of South Vietnam for a week in April 1975 before its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam. Before asc ...

Biography

He was born on 21 November 1919 to a wealthy family in

Trà Vinh province Trà Vinh () was a former province in the Mekong Delta region of Southern Vietnam. The capital is Trà Vinh City. Etymology Trà Vang was an old name used for this area, a hinterland with a sparse population. In 1825, the area of Trà Vinh was ...

. In 1945, while he was studying medicine at the

Hanoi Medical University Hanoi Medical University (HMU, ) is the oldest university of Vietnam and is located in Hanoi. HMU was founded in 1902 by French during the French colonisation under the name ''Indochina Medical College''. The first headmaster of HMU was Alexand ...

to obtain his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, he joined the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

in their resistance to the French. However, after realizing more of the group's communist nature he left the group and continued focusing on his studies.and worked as a doctor before entering politics.

First Republic

Under the regime of President

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...

, in 1954, he held the position of Head of the General Commission for Refugees, which he helped with the influx of

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

from the North after

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

was partitioned into two separate countries. In April 1960, he was one of the signatories of the

Caravelle Manifesto The Caravelle Manifesto, also referred to as the Manifesto of the Eighteen, was written in April 1960, as a public critique of the South Vietnamese government under President Ngô Đình Diệm. The "manifesto" of grievances included the Diệm re ...

, a document critiquing the government of President Ngô Đình Diệm and demanding reforms be made within the government.

Fall of Saigon and life in exile

was on the verge of collapsing to the advancing

forces In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and directi ...

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

Viên left for

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

on 29 April, a day before the government of General

Dương Văn Minh Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...

announced South Vietnam's surrender on 30 April 1975 to the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime. After arriving in Guam, Viên was then relocated to

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

along with other

Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese boat people () were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the earl ...

. Afterward, Viên decided to further his studies in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

before deciding to relocate to

Union City, Tennessee Union City is a city in and the county seat of Obion County, Tennessee, United States. 11,170 people were living in the town as of the 2020 census. It is the principal urban settlement of the surrounding micropolitan area, which includes Obion Cou ...

where he worked as a doctor at Baptist Memorial Hospital for 11 years. In 1988, he retired and then relocated to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

where he would live out the remainder of his life. He died at his home at the age of 97 in

Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 31,339 as of the 20 ...

on 18 September 2017.

References

{{reflist 1919 births 2017 deaths People from Trà Vinh province South Vietnamese politicians 20th-century Vietnamese physicians 21st-century Vietnamese physicians Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese emigrants to the United States