Đặng Tuyết Mai, also known as Madame Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (4 October 1941 – 21 December 2016) was the former wife of

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 ...

, former Republic of Vietnam Air Force commander and politician, who served as Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, and then as vice president until his retirement from politics in 1971.

Second Lady of South Vietnam (1967-1971)

Some sources have referred to Madame Đặng Tuyết Mai as the former First Lady of South Vietnam while others as the former second lady since her ex-husband's highest position in the former South Vietnam was vice president and not president (the prime minister's position was head of government but not head of state.) She was an

Air Vietnam Active from 1951 to 1975, Air Viet Nam (Air VN) ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Việt Nam) was South Vietnam's first commercial air carrier, headquartered in District 1, Saigon. Established under a decree by Chief of State Bảo Đại, the airline f ...

stewardess before she married General Ky, then the Chief of Staff of the

Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...

. While her husband served as prime minister and vice president, she would travel around South Vietnam along with him wearing a military flight suit to show solidarity with the armed forces. In December 1966, she traveled to Tokyo's Jujin Hospital of Cosmetic Surgery, for surgery under the name of Miss Dang Tuyet Mai of South Vietnam, which was reported by ''Time'' magazine. Her daughter, Kỳ Duyên, is a well-known personality in the overseas Vietnamese entertainment industry, usually in the role of MC for musical programs.

Exile and later life

During the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

, her husband had made arrangements for her and their children to be evacuated, while he fled by helicopter during

Operation Frequent Wind Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saig ...

, landing aboard the . Reunited, they went into exile in the United States, settling in California. She participated in some overseas art programs such as Asia Center and from ASIA 40 to ASIA 49, as a presenter. She later divorced Ky and moved back to Vietnam, where she managed the restaurant Phở Ta, which was located at

District 3, Ho Chi Minh City District 3 ( vi, Quận 3, links=no) is an urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Together with District 1, District 3 is considered the bustling heart of the city, with a multitude of businesses, religious sites, histori ...

. On 21 December 2016, she died at 5:00 a.m. at Hoag Hospital,

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. She was 75 years old. She is buried at the Westminster Memorial Park in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

References

External links

Madame Ky arranges a meeting with journalists in Saigon to interview her husband
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Cao Ky 1942 births 2016 deaths People from Hanoi Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Women in the Vietnam War