Biography
Tô Hoài was born in Nghĩa Đô ward, Cầu Giấy district, Hanoi, Vietnam. He was the only son of a craftsmen family who made their living by weaving. He was sent to primary school but no longer continued higher education because of his family poor financial conditions. After leaving school, he had started to work in many different jobs as a craftsman, tutor, salesman, accountant... to earn money but he never gave up his desire to study. And so he continued to self-study from then until the day he became one of the most prestigious writer in Vietnam.Period of resistance
During the Democracy Front period in 1938, Tô Hoài joined the Fraternity Weaver Movement as Acting Secretary for their Ha Dong province association as well as the Movement for Youth Against Imperialism. In 1943, he became a member of the first team of Culture for Nation Salvation in Hanoi. After the August Revolutionary in 1945, Tô Hoài participated in the Southward March Movement, leaving for Việt Bắc province to be a journalist for ''Cứu quốc'' newspaper (National Salvation). There, he worked as a head of ''Cứu quốc Việt Bắc'' newspaper (Viet Bac National Salvation and as an editor-in-chief for ''Cứu quốc'' magazine. He also joined the Vietnamese Arts & Literature Association in 1951. After the restoration of peace in Vietnam, he was elected for General Secretary of the Association in the first congress in 1957. From 1958 to 1980, he was member of the executive committee and afterwards held the position of Vice General Secretary of the Vietnamese Writers Association. From 1966 to 1996, he was also the first chairman of the Hanoi Arts Association, later known as Hanoi Arts & Literature Association. He is also the first president of the Children's Literature Council under Vietnam Writers Association. Tô Hoài has been awarded many honorary positions. He was elected to be a Vietnamese National Assembly member for the seventh session, nominated to be Vice Chairman for the Fatherland Front of Hanoi City, Vice Chairman of the Asian-African-Latin American Solidarity Committee and Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese-Indian Friendship Association.Prizes and awards
* ''Truyện Tây Bắc'' (Stories of North West region): First Prize for Novel awarded by the Vietnam Arts and Literature Association, 1956 * ''Miền Tây'' (The West): First Prize awarded by the Asian-African Writers’ Association, 1970 * ''Quê nhà'' (Hometown): An award granted by Hanoi Arts Association, 1970 * ''Chuyện cũ Hà Nội'' (Old Stories about Hanoi): Thang Long Prize awarded by the Hanoi People's Committee * '' Dế mèn phiêu lưu ký'' (Diary of a cricket), ''Xóm Giếng'' (Gieng village), ''Nhà nghèo'' (Poor family), ''O chuột'' (Hunting Mice), ''Núi Cứu quốc'' (National Salvation), ''Truyện Tây Bắc'' (Stories of North West region), ''Mười năm'' (10 years), ''Xuống làng'' (Go to downtown), ''Vỡ tỉnh'' (Province was down), ''Tào luồng'' (Tao luong), ''Họ Giàng ở Phìn Sa'' (Giang family in Phin Sa), ''Miền Tây'' (The West), ''Vợ chồng A Phủ'' (A Phu couple), ''Tuổi trẻ Hoàng Văn Thụ'' (Youth of Hoang Van Thu): Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature (first time), 1996 * Bui Xuan Phai Prize – A love for Hanoi, 2010References
{{DEFAULTSORT:To hoai 1920 births 2014 deaths Ho Chi Minh Prize recipients Vietnamese writers Vietnamese children's writers Vietnamese animators