Trần Văn Hữu (; 9 March 1896 – 17 January 1984) served as president of

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 ...

's government from 1948 to 1949, and as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam 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 ...

from 1950 to 1952.

Early life

Born in 1896 in Long My village, Chau Thanh district, Vinh Long province (now Thanh Duc commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province), he came from a wealthy landowning family. His house was in the same village as

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 ...

(later Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam), while Phạm Hùng's house (later Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) was located across the Long Hồ River (in Long Phuoc village). His father held a prominent position in the village. As a young man, Tran Van Huu studied under the French curriculum. Later, he studied in France and graduated with a degree in agricultural engineering. Upon returning home, he worked at a real estate bank.Tiểu sử Trần Văn Hữu trên trang mạng của Đài truyền hình Vĩnh Long
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Political career

On September 23, 1945, after the August Revolution and the establishment of the

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 ...

, the French army opened fire to occupy Saigon, initiating the Indochina War. With the aim of restoring colonial rule in Vietnam and Indochina, France established the pro-French "Autonomous Cochinchina" government, marking Tran Van Huu's entry into politics. In July 1946, he attended the Fontainebleau conference as a member of the French delegation aboard the French ship Dumont Durville. In December 1946, a pro-French cabinet led by Dr. Le Van Hoach was established in Cochinchina, and Tran Van Huu was appointed Minister of Finance. Due to the unstable political situation, many civil servants resigned or left for resistance zones. In response, Tran Van Huu increased wages for civil servants, encouraging them to return to government service. However, the Le Van Hoach government proved ineffective, leading to the establishment of a new government led by Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Xuan. In 1947, before returning to the country to form a government, former emperor Bao Dai invited figures such as Ngo Dinh Diem, Phan Huy Quat, Le Van Hoach, Tran Van Huu, and Nguyen Ton Hoan to meet in Hong Kong. In October 1947, Tran Van Huu was promoted to deputy prime minister in the new administration. He reorganized the administrative apparatus from the central to local levels, bringing more Vietnamese into positions of power in an effort to create a credible government of the Vietnamese people. However, these efforts were largely symbolic, as the French colonial government, both civilian and military, remained the dominant force.

Life abroad

After

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 ...

came to power in

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 lived in France and worked to undermine the Diệm regime. Hữu led the Committee for Peace and Renewal of South Vietnam, an organization that advocated for peace and the neutralization of Vietnam during the Cold War. As part of this effort, he visited

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

and United Nations Secretary General

U Thant Thant ( ; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian as well as Asian to hold the positio ...

in 1966. Due to his lobbying and past political position, Hữu was seen as an ally of the National Liberation Front (NLF) in Paris. In 1969, the NLF leadership proposed Hữu as a potential minister in a new NLF government."Vietcong and Their Allies Set Up Anti-Thieu Regime," New York Times, 11 June 1969.

References

1896 births 1984 deaths Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese politicians Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese emigrants to France People from Vĩnh Long province {{Vietnam-politician-stub