Nông Đức Mạnh

Nông Đức Mạnh (Vietnamese: [nəwŋm ɗɨ́k mâjŋ̟ˀ] (listen); born 11 September 1940) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the most powerful position in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011.[1] His parents were Tày peasants.[2]Nông Đức Mạnh was born in Cường Lợi, Na Rì District, Bắc Kạn Province. His own son is Nông Quốc Tuấn, party secretary for Bắc Giang Province.

Nông Đức Mạnh
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
In office 22 April 2001 – 19 January 2011
Preceded by	Lê Khả Phiêu
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party
In office 22 April 2001 – 19 January 2011
Preceded by	Lê Khả Phiêu
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Chairman of the National Assembly
In office 23 September 1999 – 27 June 2001
Preceded by	Lê Quang Đạo
Succeeded by	Nguyễn Văn An
Personal details
Born	11 September 1940 Na Rì, Bắc Kạn Province, French Indochina
Political party	Communist Party of Vietnam (1963-2011)
Alma mater	Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Academy of Politics

Background

It has long been rumoured that Nông Đức Mạnh is the illegitimate son of Hồ Chí Minh (1890–1969) and Nông Thị Trưng (1921–2003), Hồ's housekeeper from 1941–42. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party boss.[3] In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Trưng was identified as his mother.[4]

Nông Đức Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as 11 September 1939,[5] when Hồ Chí Minh was still in China.[6] Ho returned to Vietnam in February 1941[7] and met Trưng in July. Hồ wrote a four-line poem for Trưng in 1944, and gave her a notebook as "a token of my love".[8]

This poem was later taught to elementary school students. In April 2001, shortly after Nông Đức Mạnh was named as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam , a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, "All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Hồ." When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a Time Asia reporter, he denied he was Hồ's son and stated that his father was named Nông Văn Lai and his mother Hoàng Thị Nhị.[9]

Early life and political career

In 1958–61, Nông Đức Mạnh attended the Hanoi Higher School. From 1962–63, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the Communist Party on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964. From 1963–65, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the Bạch Thông wood exploitation team; he later returned to his studies, learning Russian at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College (from 1965–66). He traveled to Leningrad, where he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bắc Thái provincial forestry inspection board.[2]

From 1973–74, Nông Đức Mạnh served as director of the Phú Lương State Forestry Camp in Bắc Thái province. From 1974–76, Mạnh studied at the Nguyễn Ái Quốc High-Level Party School. From 1976–80, he served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising through the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bắc Thái Provincial Party Committee from 1976–83. In 1984, he was named deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the 6th National Congress he was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee. At the sixth party plenum in March 1989, he was elevated to full central committee member. Since 1991, he has been in the politburo.[10]

Nông Đức Mạnh was selected General Secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He is the first Vietnamese party head with a university degree. He announced his plans for Vietnam's future as an industrialised country, to be completed by 2020.[11]

Nông Đức Mạnh with George W. Bush

References

1. Vietnam: Foreign Policy and Government Guide International Business Publications, USA. – 2007 Page 8 "Vietnamese Government Communist state – General Secretary Nông Ðức Mạnh – President Nguyễn Minh Triết – Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng "
2. Biography of Nông Đức Mạnh, the General Secretary of the CPV, VNA, 22 April 2001
3. Duiker, William J. (2000). Ho Chi Minh. New York: Hyperion. Kindle location 11915. eBook ISBN 978-1-4013-0561-1.
4. A footnote reads, "Mrs. Nông Thị Trưng is the mother of Comrade Nông Đức Mạnh" ("Tổng Bí thư Nông Đức Mạnh trong ký ức của một người thầy" ("A teacher remembers General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh"), Thế Giới Mới (New World), Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam, 30 April 2001, No. 434.)
5. Từ điển Bách khoa Việt Nam (The Encyclopedia of Vietnam), volume 3 (N-S), Hanoi, 2003. p. 302.
6. "Great 'Uncle Ho' may have been a mere mortal". The Age. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
7. Green, Richard E. Hồ Chí Minh biography Archived 2010-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
8. "This notebook I endear it to my beloved niece/As a token of my love/With the wish that you try to study/To build the nation later on..." (Hồ Chí Minh, "Tặng cháu Nông Thị Trưng" ("Present for Nông Thị Trưng"), 1944); in Vietnamese, see here and here.
9. "We don't want to keep secrets anymore", Time Asia, 22 January 2002.
10. Communist Party of Vietnam. 9th National Congress: Documents. Hanoi: Thế Giới Publishers, 2001. pp. 261–63.
11. "Modernising leader for Vietnam", BBC News, 22 April 2001.