To Huu

▪ 2003

Nguyen Kim Thanh 

      Vietnamese poet and politician (b. 1920, Hue, Vietnam, French Indochina—d. Dec. 9, 2002, Hanoi, Vietnam), was hailed as North Vietnam's poet laureate and inspired generations of fellow Communist Party members with his popular propagandistic verse. An early convert to communism, he was arrested in 1939 for his political activities but escaped from prison in 1942 and joined the Viet Minh. To Huu was already known as a gifted lyricist when Vietnam was split in 1954, and he was appointed deputy culture minister in North Vietnam, in charge of ensuring that artists stayed in line with party beliefs. He was quickly named to the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, and in the ensuing years he penned many verses exhorting people to rise up and embrace violence for the communist cause. To Huu became deputy prime minister in 1980 but fell from grace when he was blamed for the ill-fated economic reforms of 1985; he stepped down the following year.

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