Special tribute to Viet Nam’s founding father

September 1, 2013

Vital relics: The ceremony for the handover of items relating to the life of President Ho Chi Minh held in Ho Chi Minh Museum. The museum received 229 objects, documents and pictures from 21 individuals and communities. — Photo courtesy of Ho Chi Minh Museum

by Thu Hoai

A museum honouring President Ho Chi Minh in Ha Noi that bears his name has held a ceremony for the handover of items relating to the life of the late leader, the founder of modern Viet Nam.

Celebrating both the 68th anniversary of the August 1945 Revolution and National Day on September 2, the event has been organised to pay tribute to President Ho [intimately called Uncle Ho] with the museum calling for people to donate any artefacts related to his life to be put on public display.

As a result, the Ho Chi Minh Museum received 229 objects, documents and pictures from 21 individuals and communities.

The objects have been well-preserved and their donation demonstrates the respect that the late president still commands.

Treasured gift: The director of Ho Chi Minh Museum receives golden coins donated by wife of the late minister of Education Vu Dinh Hoe.

Among the items are a Movado watch that was presented by the president to Vu Dinh Hoe, the Minister of Education and Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam in 1957. Other memorabilia include a pen given to a leader of the Viet Nam Railway Administration in 1958, five portraits of the President drawn by Vo Huy Quang and his prison mates in Con Dao Prison from 1964 to 1971, and a number of photographs of President Ho.

“During the years of the resistance war, I had profound memories of Uncle Ho. I preserved some souvenirs to educate my descendants. Now I have grown old, so I decided to give them to the museum so that everyone can observe and enjoy them,” said former Navy major Nguyen Van Thom, one of the donors.

The Ho Chi Minh museum first launched a campaign calling for donations in late 2010 in order to enrich the items on display.

The response was enthusiastic, with nearly 700 items being handed over since the campaign began. Thanks to these contributions, the museum has offered an increasingly vivid portrait of President Ho Chi Minh as a national hero and a great man of culture. — VNS

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