Đặng Văn Ngữ (1910–1967) was a Vietnamese medical doctor and

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

Biography

Ngu was born on the outskirts of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

on April 4, 1910. In 1937, he graduated from the Indochina Medical University. He became an assistant to the French physician and professor Henry Galliard, dean of the Department of Bacteriology at the school. In 1942, he directed the bacteriology lab and completed 19 research topics. In 1943, he studied in Japan, and became the President of the Patriotic Vietnamese Society in Japan in 1945. In 1949, he returned to Vietnam and joined the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

resisting against French rule, becoming the lead lecturer in bacteriology in the Medical School at Chiêm Hóa. During his time in the Viet Minh, he successfully researched a method to manufacture

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

. In 1955, he founded the Vietnamese Institute of Malaria - Bacteriology and Insects, and became its first director. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, he researched ways to prevent and treat

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

in Vietnam. On April 1, 1967, he was killed in an American bombing in the

Annamite Range The Annamite Range (; ) is a major mountain range of Mainland Southeast Asia, extending approximately through Laos, Vietnam, and a small area in northeast Cambodia. Geography The highest points of the Annamite Range are the -high Phou Bia, th ...

while in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province while researching malaria. He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for his contributions to medical research.

References

Bacteriologists 1910 births 1967 deaths People from Huế Nhân Văn–Giai Phẩm affair 20th-century Vietnamese physicians Vietnam War casualties Vietnamese biologists {{vietnam-med-bio-stub