Nguyễn Văn Tâm (; 16 October 1895 – 23 November 1990) served as Prime Minister of the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam (; chữ Hán: 國家越南; ) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as an associated state of the French Union and later as an independent state (from 20 July 1954 to 26 October 1955). The s ...

, an associated country within the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was ''de jure'' the end of the "indigenous" () status of Frenc ...

. He held that office from June 1952 to December 1953.

Early life

Born on 16 October 1895 in Tây Ninh Province during the French colonial period, Nguyễn Văn Tâm was originally a school teacher who was picked by the French in the early 1940s to be the District Chief of Cai Lậy, 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 ...

. Here in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

, he had already earned the nickname Tiger of Cai Lậy as a notorious torturer of peasants during the revolts of the 1930s. He is the paternal grandfather of Jonathan Van-Tam, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, UK.

Career

After the

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

, following the Japanese surrender in 1945, Tâm was imprisoned by the new Viet Minh authorities for crimes against the people but was soon freed by the returning French military. He was among the government ministers presented on June 1, 1946, at the proclamation of the "Republic of Cochinchina"—a first, abortive, attempt of the French to create a post-colonial client state. "Premier" Nguyen van Tinh was so humiliated by the French that after six months he hanged himself. When in 1949, in agreement with the

Bảo Đại Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , , 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc (Phước) Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was ''de jure'' em ...

the French created the State of Vietnam, Tâm was sent north as governor of Tonkin to do battle with the communist-insurgent

Democratic Republic of 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. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-suppor ...

. In June 1952 he became Prime Minister while his son, Nguyễn Văn Hinh, was appointed Chief of Staff of the French auxiliary Vietnamese National Army. He resigned his premiership on 12 January 1954 and was replaced by prince Bửu Lộc. From 1955 he lived in exile in the United States.

References

1895 births 1990 deaths People from Tây Ninh province Prime ministers of South Vietnam Nguyen dynasty officials {{Vietnam-politician-stub