In his new book, entitled Unbeatable Minds, Invincible Spirits: Profiles of Soul-Smart Leadership, my bosom buddy, Dilip Mukerjea, now based in Mumbai, India, has dedicated four pages of the book on:

HO CHÍ MINH

Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), the founder of the Vietminh and President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was the archetypical Communist and anti-colonial revolutionary of the twentieth century. He played a key role in the formation of the French, Chinese, and Vietnamese Communist movements and

fought successfully against Japanese, French and American imperialism, becoming a hate-figure of the American state during the Vietnam War.

Born Nguyen Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyen Ái Quoc ((Nguyen the Patriot)), Ho was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946-55) and president (1955-69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the

People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

He led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He officially stepped down from power in 1965 due to health problems, but remained a highly visible figurehead and inspiration for those Vietnamese fighting for his cause, that of a united, communist Vietnam, until his death. After the war, Saigon, the former capital of the Republic of Vietnam, was renamed Ho Chí Minh City.

Twentieth century Vietnam featured the oppressive French occupation and the later American interference. With his father’s encouragement Ho left his home for the West to discover its weaknesses. Ho ends up in Paris during WWI and makes contacts with the Communists.

The man known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc or Nguyễn Tất Thành who found himself in Paris in 1919, was born in 1890, three years after his home region of Annam became a French protectorate. “Annam” was often used as a collective name for the region now known as Vietnam, and the people were called Annamites.

Nguyễn Ái Quốc, having become more politically minded over time and distance, decided, along with several Vietnamese comrades, that now was the time to act and put forth an official request that Annam be granted greater autonomy.

[to be continued in Part II]