Trần Chánh Thành (9 July 1917 – 3 May 1975) was a

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

diplomat and politician who served as

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam under Prime Minister

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 ...

from 1954 to 1955. He played a crucial role as

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

, which helped lead the ouster of

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 ...

in the 1955 referendum. After the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam, he would go on to serve in South Vietnam's first President Ngô Đình Diệm's government as the Minister of Information and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam under the premiership of Prime Minister

Trần Văn Hương Trần Văn Hương (; 1 December 1902 – 27 January 1982) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the penultimate president of South Vietnam for a week in April 1975 before its surrender to the communist forces of North Vietnam. Before asc ...

Biography

Early life

Thành was born in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

and raised in

central Vietnam Central Vietnam ( or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by the State of Vietnam, by the Republic of Vietnam, or '' Annam'' under French colonial rule, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam. Th ...

in the capital 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 ...

where his father Trần Đức served as a foreign language interpreter for the Emperor

Khải Định Khải Định (; chữ Hán: 啓定; born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo; 8 October 1885 – 6 November 1925) was the 12th emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam, reigning from 1916 to 1925. His name at birth was Prince Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đ ...

. As a child, Thành excelled in his studies, after graduating from high school in Huế, he went to study at the

University of Hanoi Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU; , ĐHQGHN) is a public research university system in Hanoi, Vietnam. The university system has 10 member universities and faculties. VNU is one of two Vietnam's national universities, the other one being ...

, earning a

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in law.

Career

After graduating from university, he 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 ...

in fighting for Vietnamese independence. However, he grew disenfranchised with the Viet Minh after witnessing them being more dedicated to

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

than

Nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and committing heinous and cunning acts, he left. After leaving the Viet Minh, he joined the law firm of Lawyer

Trương Đình Dzu Trương Đình Dzu (born Trường Đình Dũ, 10 November 1917 – ) was a South Vietnamese lawyer and politician who unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the presidency in the 1967 elections against Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and his running ma ...

. During the premiership of Prime Minister

, he was invited to assume the role of

Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, in addition to serving as a minister overseeing the

Independence Palace The Independence Palace (), also publicly and officially known as the Reunification Convention Hall or simply Reunification Hall (), is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngô Vi� ...

from 1954 to 1955. In 1955, Ngô Đình Diệm created the Ministry of Information, which he appointed Thành as minister. Thanh was tasked by Diệm and his brother

Ngô Đình Nhu James (Giacôbê) Ngô Đình Nhu (7 October 19102 November 1963) was a Vietnamese archivist and politician. He was the younger brother and State Counsellor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm. Although he held no formal exe ...

to utilize the media to create propaganda leaflets to help build support to help oust the Head of State

in the 1955 referendum and opposition to the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

. After ousting the Head of State Bảo Đại, Diệm established the

Republic of 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 international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

commonly known as South Vietnam on 26 October 1955 with Diệm proclaiming himself as president. President Diệm personally invited Thành to continue serving as the Minister of Information, a position Thành served until 1962. In early November 1963, a coup led by General

Dương Văn Minh Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...

, resulted in the overthrow and assassination of

made Thành briefly withdraw from politics. He made his political comeback in 1967, after being elected as a member of the senate in 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 ...

. The following year he was invited by Prime Minister

to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. When the premiership of Trần Văn Hương ended, Thành retired from politics. After a stint in politics, he went on to teach

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

at the École des Dessins until 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 ...

Fall of Saigon and death

On 30 April 1975, Thành and his family were promised to be evacuated by the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

; however, the evacuation did not happen as it was too late as the forces of the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

and

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 ...

were closing in on

Saigon 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 ...

. As a result, three days later, he committed suicide in his home by overdosing on medicine pills in protest of the Communist North Vietnamese victory and take over of South Vietnam.

Work

* ''Le Statut Politique des Hauts Plateaux'', 1942 * ''Les Juridictions mandarinales'', 1943 * ''Kỹ Thuật Thông Tin'', 1957 * ''Les Problemes de l'Information dans les pays sous-developpes'', 1962 * ''Mở Mang Quốc Gia Chậm Tiến'' * ''Xây Dựng Dân Chủ Trong Hoàn Cảnh Chiến Tranh Và Chậm Tiến'' * ''Các Mục Tiêu Đối Ngoại Căn Bản Của Việt Nam Cộng Hòa''

References

{{Reflist 1917 births 1975 deaths People from Hanoi Vietnamese anti-communists Members of the National Assembly (South Vietnam) Drug-related suicides Suicides in Vietnam