Trần Văn Hữu (1895 – 17 January 1985) served as president of the government of

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...

from 1948 to 1949, then as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

from 1950 to 1952.

Early life

He was born in 1895, in Long My village, Chau Thanh district ,

Vinh Long Vinh () is the biggest city and economic and cultural center of north-central Vietnam. Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province, and is a key point in the East–West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The city is ...

province (now Thanh Duc commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) into a wealthy landowner family. His house is in the same village as

Trần Văn Hương Trần Văn Hương (陳文香, 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 prior to its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam. ...

(later

Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam This is a list of leaders of South Vietnam, since the establishment of the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina in 1946, and the division of Vietnam in 1954 until the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, and the reunification of Vietnam in 19 ...

), while

Phạm Hùng Phạm Hùng (June 11, 1912 – March 10, 1988) was a Vietnamese politician and the 2nd Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 1987 to 1988. Life Phạm Hùng was born on June 11, 1912, in Vĩnh Long Pro ...

's house (later

Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

) is located opposite the other side of the Long Hồ River (belonging to Vietnam). Long Phuoc village ). His father held the position of incense in the village. At a young age, Tran Van Huu studied the French program. Growing up, he went to France to study and graduated with a degree in agricultural engineering. When he returned home, he worked at a real estate bank.Tiểu sử Trần Văn Hữu trên trang mạng của Đài truyền hình Vĩnh Long
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Life abroad

He lived in France after

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

came to power in 1954 in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

and worked to undermine the Diệm regime. Hữu served as leader of the Committee for Peace and Renewal of South Vietnam, an organization that lobbied for peace and the neutralization of Vietnam in the Cold War. As part of this mission, in 1966 he visited

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

and the United Nations Secretary General

U Thant Thant (; ; January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held t ...

. Because of his lobbying efforts and past political standing, Hữu was an ally of the National Liberation Front (NLF) in Paris. In 1969, the leadership of the NLF proposed Hữu as a possible minister of a new NLF government."Vietcong and Their Allies Set Up Anti-Thieu Regime," New York Times, 11 June 1969.

References

1895 births 1985 deaths {{Vietnam-politician-stub