Nguyễn Thị Bình (; born Nguyễn Thị Châu Sa ; 26 May 1927), also known as Madame Bình, is a South Vietnamese revolutionary leader,

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She became internationally known for her role as the

Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

(NLF)'s chief diplomat and leading its

delegation Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person.Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2017). ''Management'' (6th ed., pp. 282–286). Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia. ...

to the Paris Peace Conference. The only woman among the signatories of the 1973 peace accords that ended American intervention in 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 ...

, she later served in the government of reunified Vietnam after 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 ...

and later became the country's

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

in 1992. She is the first woman in Vietnamese history to be appointed a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Life and work

Nguyễn Thị Bình was born in 1927 in Châu Thành, Sa Đéc Province and is a granddaughter of the Nationalist leader Phan Chu Trinh. She studied French at Lycée Sisowath in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and worked as a teacher during the French colonisation of Vietnam. She joined Vietnam's Communist Party in 1948. From 1945 to 1951, she took part in various intellectual movements against the French colonists. Subsequently, she was arrested and jailed between 1951 and 1953 in Chí Hòa Prison (Saigon) by the French colonial authority in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

During the

, she became a member of the Vietcong's Central Committee and a vice-chairperson of the South Vietnamese Women's Liberation Association. In 1969 she was appointed

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of the

Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as an armed underground government opposing the government of the Republic of ...

. A fluent French speaker, Bình played a major role in the Paris Peace Accords, an agreement that was supposed to end the war and restore peace in Vietnam, which entered into force on 17 January 1973.Hy V. Luong (2003), ''Postwar Vietnam: dynamics of a transforming society'', Rowman & Littlefield, , p. 223 She was expected to be replaced by a male Vietcong representative after preliminary talks, but quickly became one of the group's most visible international public figures. During this time, she was famous for representing Vietnamese women with her elegant and gracious style, and was referred to by the media as "Madame Bình". She was the only woman who signed the Paris Peace Accords. Signes of DuyTrinh and NTBinh

After the Vietnam War, she was appointed

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

of the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and from 1982 to 1986, which made her the first female minister ever in the history of Viet Nam. Nguyen Thi Binh was a member of the Central Committee of Vietnam's Communist Party from 1987 to 1992. She was also the Deputy Chair of the Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Chair of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

's Foreign Affairs Committee. The

elected her twice to the position of

of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the terms 1992–1997 and 1997–2002. Since retiring from politics, Madame Bình has authored several

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

s, including a high-profile one on the state newspaper '' Nhân Dân'' in which she voiced concerns that the current personnel policy of the Communist Party of Vietnam have allowed some "incompetent and opportunistic" individuals to enter the party's apparatus. She also criticized the Party's focus on increasing membership at the expense of "quality." From March 2009 to 2014, she served as a member of the support committee of Russell Tribunal on

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Legacy

Madame Bình became the source of inspiration and namesake for Madame Binh Graphics Collective, a radical left all-women

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

, and street art

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1970s to 1980s. Madame Bình has been awarded many prestigious awards and honours, including the Order of Ho Chi Minh and the Resistance Order (First Class). In 2021, then- President of Vietnam Nguyễn Xuân Phúc awarded her the 75-year Party Membership Commemorative Medal. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, the Government of Vietnam commissioned the official portraits for 12 former foreign ministers from 1945 to 2020. Nguyễn Thị Bình was included among them as the only South Vietnamese foreign minister and the only woman.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Thi Binh 1927 births Living people People from Đồng Tháp province Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Vice presidents of Vietnam Education ministers of Vietnam Government ministers of Vietnam Women government ministers of Vietnam Vietnamese prisoners and detainees Foreign nationals imprisoned in France Female foreign ministers Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese revolutionaries 20th-century Vietnamese women politicians 20th-century Vietnamese politicians Vietnamese women diplomats 20th-century Vietnamese diplomats Women vice presidents of Vietnam 21st-century Vietnamese women politicians 21st-century Vietnamese politicians Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh