Nông Đức Mạnh (; born 11 September 1940) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary 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 ...

, the most powerful position in the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011. His parents were Tày peasants.Biography of Nông Đức Mạnh, the General Secretary of the CPV
VNA, 22 April 2001 Nông Đức Mạnh was born in Cường Lợi,

Na Rì District NA, N.A., Na, nA or n/a may refer to: Chemistry and physics * Sodium, symbol Na, a chemical element * Avogadro constant (''N''A) * Nucleophilic addition, a type of reaction in organic chemistry * Numerical aperture, a number that characterizes ...

, Bắc Kạn Province. His own son is Nông Quốc Tuấn, party secretary for Bắc Giang Province.

Background

It has long been rumoured that Nông Đức Mạnh is the illegitimate son of

Hồ Chí Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), ('Father of the Nation, Old father of the people') and by other Pseudonym, aliases, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnam ...

(1890–1969) and Nông Thị Trưng (1921–2003), Hồ's housekeeper from 1941–42. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party leader.Duiker, William J. (2000). ''Ho Chi Minh''. New York: Hyperion. Kindle location 11915. eBook . In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Trưng was identified as his mother.A footnote reads, "Mrs. Nông Thị Trưng is the mother of Comrade Nông Đức Mạnh" ("Tổng Bí thư Nông Đức Mạnh trong ký ức của một người thầy" ("A teacher remembers General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh"), ''Thế Giới Mới'' (''New World''), Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam, 30 April 2001, No. 434.) Nông Đức Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as 11 September 1940, born in a peasant family, he is Tày ethnic group when Hồ Chí Minh was still in China. Ho returned to Vietnam in February 1941 and met Trưng in July. Hồ wrote a four-line poem for Trưng in 1944, and gave her a notebook as "a token of my love". This poem was later taught to elementary school students. In April 2001, shortly after Nông Đức Mạnh was named as

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( vi, Tổng Bí thư Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam), known as First Secretary ( vi, Bí thư Thứ nhất) from 1960 to 1976, is t ...

, a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, ''"All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Hồ."'' When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a ''

Time Asia ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'' reporter, he denied he was Hồ's son and stated that his father was named Nông Văn Lại and his mother Hoàng Thị Nhị.

Early life and political career

In 1958–61, Nông Đức Mạnh attended the Hanoi Higher School. From 1962–63, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964. From 1963–65, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the Bạch Thông wood exploitation team; he later returned to his studies, learning Russian at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College (from 1965–66). He traveled to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bắc Thái provincial forestry inspection board. From 1973–74, Nông Đức Mạnh served as director of the Phú Lương State Forestry Camp in Bắc Thái province. From 1974–76, he studied at the Nguyễn Ái Quốc High-Level Party School. From 1976–80, he served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising through the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bắc Thái Provincial Party Committee from 1976–83. In 1984, he was named deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the 6th National Congress he was elected as an alternate member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

. At the sixth party plenum in March 1989, he was elevated to full central committee member. Since 1991, he has been in the

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. From 23 September 1992, he was Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, thereby being one of the youngest when standing on the stage of honor of a Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

. ''9th National Congress: Documents''. Hanoi: Thế Giới Publishers, 2001. pp. 261–63. Nông Đức Mạnh was selected General Secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He retired on 19 January 2011 after 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He is the first Vietnamese party head with a university degree. He announced his plans for Vietnam's future as an industrialised country, to be completed by 2020."Modernising leader for Vietnam"
BBC News, 22 April 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nong, Duc Manh 1939 births People from Bắc Kạn province Tày people Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (Vietnam) Vietnamese expatriates in the Soviet Union Saint-Petersburg State Forestry University alumni Living people Communist rulers General Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh