Vũ Kỳ (26 September 1921–16 April 2005) was the personal
secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
to
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
leader
Ho Chi Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...
. He was also a former member in the National Assembly and the former director of the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
Vũ Kỳ was born in 1921 at Thường Tín,
Hà Nội
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. Vũ Kỳ obtained the position of personal secretary on 28 August 1945 after Ho Chi Minh had declared independence from France during the
August Revolution
The August Revolution ( vi, Cách-mạng tháng Tám), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution launched by the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) against the Empire of Vietnam and the Empire of Japan in ...
, and remained until Ho Chi Minh 's death on 2 September 1969. Vũ Kỳ was born named Vũ Long Chuẩn and later renamed by Ho Chi Minh.
[Pierre Brocheux, Claire Duiker, ''Ho Chi Minh: a biography'', Cambridge University Press (2007), p.128]
In 1952, Vũ Kỳ was made a full member of the Hanoi Party Committee and was with Ho Chi Minh, serving as his personal secretary, every day until his death. Later in a 1988 interview with
National Geographic, Vũ Kỳ explained that in 1969, as Ho Chi Minh's health gradually become worse, Vũ Kỳ secretly sent three local Vietnamese doctors to the Soviet Union to learn the embalming technique (as with the case involving Soviet former leader
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
) for the preservation of Ho Chi Minh's body after death, but Ho was never informed about the plans because he would have "sqwashed" the idea.
In 1970, Vũ Kỳ was a member of the Steering Committee for the construction of the
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
The President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ( vi, Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh) is a mausoleum which serves as the resting place of Vietnamese revolutionary leader and President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a large building located in the cen ...
, and later in 1977, the Deputy Director of the
Ho Chi Minh Museum. From 1987 to 1990, Vũ Kỳ was the full Director of the Ho Chi Minh Museum as well as a member of the National Assembly from 1987 to 1992. At the dedication of the Ho Chi Minh Museum on 19 May 1990, the 100th anniversary on the birth of Ho Chi Minh, Vũ Kỳ resigned as Director of the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
Vũ Kỳ died in the early morning hours on 16 April 2005 at the Huu Nghi Hospital in Hanoi at age 83, and was buried in Mai Dich Cemetery.
References
External links
"Vũ Kỳ"Obituary at vietbao.vn.
1921 births
2005 deaths
{{Vietnam-bio-stub