Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai

Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai
Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai
Born	November 1, 1910; Vinh, Nghệ An province, French Indochina
Died	August 28, 1941 (aged 30); Hóc Môn, Cochinchina, French Indochina
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Other names	Nguyễn Thị Vịnh
Occupation(s)	Revolutionist, politician
Political party	New Revolutionary Party of Vietnam

Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (1 November 1910 – 28 August 1941) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and a leader of the Indochinese Communist Party during the 1930s.

Early life and education

Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai was born Nguyễn Thị Vịnh on 1 November 1910 in Vinh, Nghệ An province, Vietnam.^[1]

Her father, Nguyễn Huy Bình, also known as Hàn Bình, was born in Hanoi.^[1] She had learnt French but, due to failing the civil service examinations, chose to work as a railway official in Vinh.^[2] Her mother, Đậu Thị Thư, was a petty shopkeeper from Đức Thọ, Hà Tĩnh province.^[3]^[1]

Her father frequently permitted her to retain banned documents in an upstairs room at the train station. When Minh Khai grew more engaged in her revolutionary activities, her mother supported her financially on her frequent visits to different provinces.^[3]

Revolutionary career

In 1927, she co-founded the New Revolutionary Party of Vietnam which was a predecessor of the Communist Party of Vietnam. She was considered as one of the prominent female members of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).^[3] In April 1930, she was delegated to Hong Kong and became a secretary for Hồ Chí Minh (at the time known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc) in the office of the Orient Bureau of the Comintern.^[4]^[5] In April 1931, Minh Khai was detained by the British administration in Hong Kong. The British colonial government initially planned to turn her over to the French authorities. However, her Cantonese fluency enabled her to avoid being handed over to the French but instead, she was imprisoned in several Kuomintang jails in China from 1931 to 1934.^[6] In 1934, she and Lê Hồng Phong were voted to be attendees in the Seventh Congress of Comintern in Moscow. Later she married Lê.

In 1936, she returned to Vietnam and became the top leader of the communists in Saigon. She was seized by the French colonial government in 1940 and was executed by firing squad^[7] the next year.^[8]^[9] Her husband Lê had been jailed in June 1939, and later died in the tiger cages at Poulo Condore prison in September 1942.^[10]

Legacy

Today, Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai is honoured as a revolutionary martyr by the Communist Party of Vietnam, and some roads, schools, and administrative units in Vietnam are named after her. Some of these include the Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai urban ward in Bắc Kạn, and Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai High School.

Her Delegate's Card at the 1935 COMINTERN's 7th Congress in Moscow, USSR. She was a delegate representing the Indochinese Communist Party.
Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Hùng Hoàng (2018-11-08). "Chuyện tình Lê Hồng Phong – Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai" [The love story of Le Hong Phong– Nguyen Thi Minh Khai]. Bảo tàng Lịch sử Quốc gia (Vietnam National Museum of History) (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
^ Duiker 2000, p. 198.
^ ^a ^b ^c Marr 1984, p. 243.
^ Duiker 2000, p. 185.
^ Brocheux 2007, p. 63.
^ Marr 1984, p. 244.
^ Ho Chi Minh: A Life - Ch 8^{[page needed]}
^ Harms 2011, p. 29: "... intersection, where many anticolonial figures perished, including, most famously, the trio of Nguyễn thị Minh Khai, Võ Văn Tần, and Nguyễn Văn Cừ, who were put before the firing squads there on August 28, 1941.".
^ Burke 2010, p. 94: "Nguyễn Văn Cừ was a Vietnamese revolutionary leader. He, along with Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai and others, spearheaded the Nam Kỳ (Southern Region) Insurrection against the French that broke out in Gia Định Province...".
^ Ho Chi Minh: A Life - Ch 8

References

Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: A Biography. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85062-9.
Burke, J.W. (2010). Origines: The Streets of Vietnam : a Historical Companion. Thế Giới Publishers. ISBN 978-604-77-0070-7.
Duiker, William J. (2000). Ho Chi Minh: A Life. Hyperion Books. ISBN 978-0-7868-8701-9. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
Harms, Erik (2011). Saigon's Edge: On the Margins of Ho Chi Minh City. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-5605-9. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
Lanzona, V.A.; Rettig, F. (2020). Women Warriors in Southeast Asia. Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-57184-1. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
Marr, D.G. (1984). Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-90744-7. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
Neville, Peter (2018). "Chapter 3: Survival". Ho Chi Minh. Routledge Historical Biographies (Kindle ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-429-82822-5. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
Smith, B.G. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514890-9.

[Vietnam_National_Museum_of_History_2018-1] Hùng Hoàng (2018-11-08). "Chuyện tình Lê Hồng Phong – Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai" [The love story of Le Hong Phong– Nguyen Thi Minh Khai]. Bảo tàng Lịch sử Quốc gia (Vietnam National Museum of History) (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2021-11-20.

[FOOTNOTEDuiker2000198-2] Duiker 2000, p. 198.

[FOOTNOTEMarr1984243-3] Marr 1984, p. 243.

[FOOTNOTEDuiker2000185-4] Duiker 2000, p. 185.

[FOOTNOTEBrocheux200763-5] Brocheux 2007, p. 63.

[FOOTNOTEMarr1984244-6] Marr 1984, p. 244.

[7] Ho Chi Minh: A Life - Ch 8^{[page needed]}

[FOOTNOTEHarms201129:_"..._intersection,_where_many_anticolonial_figures_perished,_including,_most_famously,_the_trio_of_Nguyễn_thị_Minh_Khai,_Võ_Văn_Tần,_and_Nguyễn_Văn_Cừ,_who_were_put_before_the_firing_squads_there_on_August_28,_1941."-8] Harms 2011, p. 29: "... intersection, where many anticolonial figures perished, including, most famously, the trio of Nguyễn thị Minh Khai, Võ Văn Tần, and Nguyễn Văn Cừ, who were put before the firing squads there on August 28, 1941.".

[FOOTNOTEBurke201094:_"Nguyễn_Văn_Cừ_was_a_Vietnamese_revolutionary_leader._He,_along_with_Nguyễn_Thị_Minh_Khai_and_others,_spearheaded_the_Nam_Kỳ_(Southern_Region)_Insurrection_against_the_French_that_broke_out_in_Gia_Định_Province..."-9] Burke 2010, p. 94: "Nguyễn Văn Cừ was a Vietnamese revolutionary leader. He, along with Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai and others, spearheaded the Nam Kỳ (Southern Region) Insurrection against the French that broke out in Gia Định Province...".

[10] Ho Chi Minh: A Life - Ch 8

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