Nguyễn Hữu Thọ (; 10 July 1910 – 24 December 1996) was a South Vietnamese politician, revolutionary and

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam from 6 June 1969 to 2 July 1976, and the Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam from 4 July 1981 to 18 June 1987. Nguyễn Hữu Thọ began his political career in 1949, when he led protests against French colonial rule of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and the patrols of US naval warships off the coast of southern Vietnam. As a consequence of these activities, he was arrested and imprisoned from 1950 to 1952. He went on an extended

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

while imprisoned which enhanced his reputation. After the partition of Vietnam into the Soviet-backed communist

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

and the US-backed

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

in 1954, he remained in the south and subsequently co-operated with the government of President

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...

until he was arrested again for creating an organisation intended on achieving reunification through the proposed elections scheduled for 1956 by 1954 accords. LS-Nguyen-Huu-Tho160629

In 1961, he escaped from prison and became first interim president and then chairman of the North Vietnamese backed National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (Viet Cong), which was co-founded by him on December 20, 1960. This group launched an armed insurgency against the government of South Vietnam 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 ...

. In June 1969, North Vietnam founded the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, in which Huỳnh Tấn Phát became President and he himself became Chairman of the Consultative Council. After the North Vietnamese conquest all of South Vietnam following the

fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

in April 1975, he became Prime Minister of new-found Republic of South Vietnam. After the official reunification of Vietnam and the founding of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 2 July 1976, he became one of two vice-presidents and thus a deputy of then President Tôn Đức Thắng. At the same time, he was also the first mayor of

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

(Saigon, named after dead Ho). After Tôn Đức Thắng's death on 30 March 1980, he became acting President of Vietnam, a post he held until he was replaced by Trường Chinh on 4 July 1981. He then served as Deputy Chairman of the Council of State from 1981 to 1992. From 1981 to 1987 he was also Chairman of the National Assembly (Quốc hội Việt Nam) and thus President of the Parliament. Between 1988 and 1994, he was chairman of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front (Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam), the umbrella organization for mass organizations in the country.

Life and career

A French-educated lawyer in

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

, Thọ was also a member of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO) and a participant in the Vietnamese fight for independence. He joined the Vietnamese National Popular League (or Liên Việt) in 1948, Communist Party in 1949, and was kept in detention from 1950–52. He later came to support the 1954 Geneva agreements, but opposed the government of

's president,

. In August 1954, he founded the Committee in Defense of Peace and the Geneva Agreements. The committee was crushed and banned by the South Vietnamese government in November the same year, and Thọ and other members of the organization were jailed after a police raid.Nghia M. Vo - Saigon: A History 2011- Page 140 "In a clearing in the Tây Ninh province about 80 miles west of Saigon, on December 19 to 20, 1960, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a Saigon lawyer, Trương Như Tảng, chief comptroller of a bank, Drs. Dương Quỳnh Hoa and Phùng Văn Cung, along with other dissidents, met with communists to form the National Liberation Front..." He remained in detention until 1961, when he managed to escape. Free, Thọ became Chairman of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front. In 1965, he delivered an anti-imperialist speech, a booklet was later published in English, entitled ''SPEECH''. His title was given as: ''President of the Presidium of the Consultative Council of the South Viet Nam icNational Front for Liberation on the 5th founding anniversary of the N.F.L.'' In 1969, he became Chairman of the Consultative Council of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, a post he retained until South Vietnam was incorporated into

in 1976. In the newly re-unified Vietnam, he served as one of the vice presidents until the death of Tôn Đức Thắng, when he was named acting president (April 1980 – July 1981), a post he held until the appointment of Trường Chinh, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, in July 1981. On relinquishing the post of president, he assumed the role of Chairman of the National Assembly until 1987. He was vice-chairman of the council of state 1981–92. Thọ was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1983–84). Nguyen died on 24 December 1996 at

at the age of 86.

References

External links

Interview with Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, 1981
(Video Interview) WGBH Media Library & Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Huu Tho 1910 births 1996 deaths People from Long An province Presidents of Vietnam Vice presidents of Vietnam Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (Vietnam) Recipients of the Lenin Peace Prize French Section of the Workers' International politicians Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam 20th-century Vietnamese lawyers Vietnamese communists Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese revolutionaries