Vũ Văn Mẫu (25 July 1914 – 20 August 1998) was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who was the last Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving under President Dương Văn Minh's leadership.

Early life and career

Vũ Văn Mẫu was born in 1914 in Hanoi, Tonkin, French Indochina. He earned a doctorate in law from the University of Paris and practiced law in Hanoi. After Vietnam’s partition in 1954, he moved to Saigon with his family and joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Saigon, where he became the Dean of the Faculty. He was recognized as an expert in civil and historical law. After several years as a professor he then became a local Saigon judge, rising through the ranks to become Judge of the Saigon Superior Court. During his legal career and even during retirement and exile, he authored a number of books, including one entitled ''Vietnamese Civil Law''.

Political career

After carrying out the referendum of South Vietnam in 1955, deposing the Head of State

Bảo Đại Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was em ...

and the State of Vietnam. Then Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm established a new government,

Republic of 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 t ...

which Diệm proclaimed himself as president and invited Mẫu to hold the position of Foreign Minister of the Republic of Vietnam. He held this position for eight years, from 1955 to 1963. During the Buddhist crisis of 1963, he resigned on August 22, 1963, shaving his head like a monk in protest. He strongly opposed the fierce repressive measures of the Ngô Đình Diệm's government against

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. When he attempted to leave the Republic of Vietnam to join a pilgrimage to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, he was arrested and placed under house arrest. Mẫu was South Vietnam's ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the mid- to late 1960s. In the early 1970s, he was elected Senator of the Republic where he became a prominent national politician.

Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1975)

In 1975, he became Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam under President Dương Văn Minh. During his tenure, he was always active in the movement for peace and reconciliation for the nation. Therefore, when General Dương Văn Minh became president, he was nominated for the post of Prime Minister of the

for the purpose of participating in negotiations to end the war. However, he was only in office for only two days when the Republic of Vietnam collapsed before the advancing army of the

National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. He had to join President Dương Văn Minh and Vice President Nguyễn Văn Huyền in declaring their unconditional surrender to avoid further bloodshed.

Post-
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 ...
and exile

Like General Dương Văn Minh, he was a moderate, supporting the policy of handing over the government to the Liberation Army. Therefore, the Revolutionary government only implemented monitoring measures, not being strict with him. After the situation stabilized, Mẫu was allowed to leave the country to immigrate to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1988 and settled there for the rest of his life. He died on August 20, 1998 in Paris, aged 84.

Personal life

Mẫu was married and had five children, whom all resided in France. His daughter, Ms. Vũ Thị Việt Hương, followed her father's profession in law, by obtaining a Doctorate of Law at Saigon Law University. After graduating she returned to her old school to teach, specializing in International Law and Comparative Law. Mẫu was a great scholar of Vietnamese law, a veteran scholar, he knows many languages and was fluent in English, French,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and Chinese and was very highly regarded as a professor of law. His work is also cited by René David and John E.C. Brierley in the famous book on comparative law ''Major Legal Systems in the World Today.''

References