Trần Đức Lương (; 5 May 1937 – 20 May 2025) was a Vietnamese politician who served as the sixth

President of Vietnam The president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam () is the head of state of Vietnam, elected by the National Assembly of Vietnam from its delegates. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, candidates for the post are nominated by the Central Commit ...

from 1997 to 2006.

Early life

Trần Đức Lương was born in Đức Phổ District,

Quảng Ngãi Province Quảng Ngãi is a northern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the South Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Nam to the north, Bình Định to the south, Kon Tum province, Kon Tum to the ...

and relocated to

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

after graduating from high school in 1954. He studied geology at Hanoi University of Mining and Geology.

Career

Lương joined the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) 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 Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

in 1959, and became a functionary of the party in the 1970s. In 1987, he became Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam. Member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

since June 1996, Trần Đức Lương was elected state president of the

Socialist Republic of 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 ...

on September 24, 1997, and re-elected in 2002. On June 24, 2006, Lương announced his resignation (along with Prime Minister

Phan Văn Khải Phan Văn Khải (; 25 December 1933 – 17 March 2018) was a Vietnamese politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam from 25 September 1997 until his resignation on 27 June 2006. He was considered to be a technocratic, innovat ...

). Nguyễn Minh Triết was named to succeed Lương as president.

Family

His son Trần Tuấn Anh was the head of the CPV's Central Economic Committee before resigning in 2024.

Death

Lương died at his home on 20 May 2025 at 22:51 (

UTC+7 UTC+07:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +07:00. In ISO 8601 the associated time would be written as . It is 7 hours ahead of UTC, meaning that when the time in UTC areas is midnight (00:00), the time in UTC+07:00 areas would ...

), at the age of 88. State media, citing information from the CPV's Board of Health Protection and Care for Central Officials (), stated that he died "due to old age and severe illness". A state funeral was carried out on 24 and 25 May 2025; Lương was then buried in his hometown in Đức Phổ District,

on 25 May 2025 at around 15:00 (

Awards and honors

*: **

Gold Star Order (2007) *: ** Grand Cross of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(2002) *: ** Orden_of_Friendship

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(1997) **

Honorary Professor of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

References

External links