Empress Dowager Ý Tĩnh, born Lady Nguyễn Thị Hoàn (1736 – 1811), was the first Empress Dowager of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

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 ...

. She was the mother of Emperor Gia Long, the first monarch of the Nguyễn dynasty.

Life

She was a daughter of Duke Nguyễn Phúc Trung of Minh Linh Nguyễn clan and Lady Phùng of An Du Phùng Clan, Thừa Thiên district. She married

Nguyễn Phúc Luân Nguyễn Phúc Luân or Nguyễn Phúc Côn (wikt:阮, 阮wikt:福, 福wikt:㫻, 㫻, 24 October 1733– 30 January 1765) was a son of Nguyễn Lords, lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát and father of Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (future emperor Gia Long of Viet ...

and gave birth to three sons and one daughter. After Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát died, the royal official

Trương Phúc Loan Trương Phúc Loan ( vi-hantu, 張福巒, ?–1776) was a mandarin who served under the reign of two Nguyễn lords: Nguyễn Phúc Khoát and Nguyễn Phúc Thuần. In 1765, Nguyễn Phúc Khoát died, and appointed his second son Nguyễn ...

changed his last will to put the young prince

Nguyễn Phúc Thuần Nguyễn Phúc Thuần (31 December 1754 – 18 October 1777) was one of the Nguyễn lords who ruled over the southern portion of Vietnam from the 16th-18th centuries. The collapse of the Nguyễn lords intensified during Thuần's reign, many u ...

to the throne, and sent

, who was the real successor stated in the will, to prison.

died in 1765 at the age of 33. After

lost the throne in the Tây Sơn rebellion, Lady Nguyễn Thị Hoàn's life became relatively uneasy. She escaped to the very far south of Vietnam and spent most of her time in

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City; Vietnam's first island municipality. The island has a total area o ...

and

Thổ Châu Tho or THO may refer to: Languages People * Thổ people, of northern Vietnam * Jeff Tho (born 1988), Australian badminton player * Lê Đức Thọ (1911–1990), Vietnamese revolutionary general Places * T'ho, an ancient Mayan city * � ...

. In 1778,

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

defeated Tây Sơn and unified Vietnam. Lady Nguyễn Thị Hoàn was invited to go back to

Gia Định ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Eliza ...

. In 1801, she went back to the royal capital and remained there until her death in 1811. In 1807, she was elevated to Empress Dowager. In 1812 she was elevated to the title as Hiếu Khang Empress Dowager (Ý Tĩnh Huệ Cung An Trinh Từ Hiến Hiếu Khang hoàng hậu, 懿靜惠恭安貞慈獻孝康皇后). Her tomb is Thuy Thanh tomb (Thụy Thánh lăng - 瑞聖陵) at Hương Trà district.

Family

* Father: Duke Nguyễn Phúc Trung of Minh Linh Nguyễn clan * Mother: Lady Phùng of An Du Phùng Clan * Issues: # Nguyễn Phúc Đồng, prince of Dong Hai # Nguyễn Phúc Ngọc Tú # Nguyễn Phúc Ánh # Nguyễn Phúc Điển

References

{{Reflist 1736 births 1811 deaths Nguyễn dynasty empresses dowager 19th-century Vietnamese women 19th-century Vietnamese people 18th-century Vietnamese women 18th-century Vietnamese people Nguyễn dynasty posthumous empresses People from Huế