Trần Văn Đỗ (15 November 1903 - 20 December 1990) was a South Vietnamese intellectual and politician who served in both the governments 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 ...

and

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 ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and

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, Spai ...

Prime Minister of South 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 ...

. He was the younger brother of

Trần Văn Chương Trần Văn Chương (2 June 1898 – 24 July 1986) was South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States in the early 1960s and the father of the country's ''de facto'' first lady, Madame Nhu (1924-2011). He was also the foreign minister of the ...

, who served as the South Vietnamese ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the early 1960s under the government of South Vietnam's first President

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 ...

. He was also the uncle of then South Vietnam's First Lady

Trần Lệ Xuân Trần Lệ Xuân (22 August 1924 – 24 April 2011), more popularly known in English as Madame Nhu, was the ''de facto'' First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngô Đình Nhu, who was the brother and chief advisor ...

, commonly known as Madame Nhu. He was an outspoken critic of the Diệm's government, and in 1960, he was one of the main drafters of the Caravelle Manifesto, a public document, supported by many political factions of the South Vietnamese government condemning Diệm's government.

Early life

He was born on 15 November 1903 in Phủ Lý,

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

. He studied in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, obtained a medical doctor degree from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

Political career

He decided not to sign the Geneva Agreement because he did not accept the division of Vietnam and on behalf of the Vietnamese National Delegation issued a separate statement: "...the Vietnamese government requests the Conference to officially acknowledge that Vietnam solemnly opposes the signing of the Agreement and its provisions that do not respect the deep aspirations of the Vietnamese people. Request the Conference to acknowledge that the Government grants itself the right to complete freedom of action to protect the sacred rights of the Vietnamese people in the process of realizing Unification, Independence, and Freedom for the country." He was then appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, but after only one year, withdrew in 1955. During the First Republic, he opposed President

's policies. He was one of 18 members of the Caravelle group to sign the petition, also known as the Caravelle Declaration to Ngô Đình Diệm, demanding government reform in April 1960.Tướng Minh và Đệ Nhất Cộng hòa
/ref> In 1965, he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister

Phan Huy Quát Phan Huy Quát (Hà Tĩnh Province, 12 June 1908 – 27 April 1979) was a South Vietnamese doctor and politician who served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam for four months in 1965. Early life Phan Huy Quát was born in Lộc Hà Dis ...

. After the premiership of Phan Huy Quát ended, he went on to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1965-1968) under the premiership of Prime Ministers

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...

and Nguyễn Văn Lộc.

Life in exile

After the Fall of Saigon, he took asylum in France as a

political refugee The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

where lived quietly for the remainder of his life. He died on December 20, 1990, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran Van Do 1903 births 1990 deaths