Đinh Đăng Định (20 April 1920 – 11 August 2013) was the personal photographer to

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

. He also co-founded the Vietnam Artistic Photographer's Association (VAPA) with Lâm Tấn Tài.

Early years

Định was born in Kiêu Kỵ,

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 ...

, Vietnam.

Career

Anti-French Resistance (1936–1945)

In 1936, Định joined the anti-French resistance. However, it wasn't until 1941 when

set up at anti-Japanese base at

Pác Bó Pác Bó is a small village in Cao Bằng province, northern part of Vietnam, 3 km from the Chinese border. "Pác Bó" in Tày language means “the beginning of the source”. Near this village is a cave, ''Hang Cốc Bó'' (today often ...

that Định was allowed to photograph political activities.

Personal photographer to Ho Chi Minh (1945 - 1969)

Định became the personal photographer to Ho Chi Minh, taking the first official portrait of him on 2 September 1945 in

. The portrait was meant to be distributed to the public to publicise his identity. From 1945 onwards, Định would accompany Ho Chi Minh to capture images of his meetings with French colonial commanders and other high-ranking members of 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 ...

as well as document people's support of Ho's resistance movement. Định worked in the Party's Central Office, taking photos of Ho Chi Minh until he died in 1969. While in Hanoi, Định founded the Vietnam Artistic Photographer's Association (VAPA) on 8 December 1965.

Ho Chi Minh Trail (1974–1975)

After Ho's death, Định was tasked to go South and document route 9 of the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

Accolades

In 2000, Định was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for his contributions to photography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinh, Dang Dinh 1920 births 2013 deaths Vietnamese photographers Vietnamese independence activists Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese revolutionaries People from Hanoi