Front: Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Vietnamese revolutionary

Ho Chi Minh was born Nguyen Tat Thanh in the central province of Annam. For a short time he attended school in Hue. He traveled to Europe in 1911, living in London and Paris. He was a founding member of the French Communist Party and in the early 1920's he traveled to Moscow for training. In 1924 he settled in Canton, China championing the Communist cause. For his activities, he was briefly imprisoned several times in China and in Hong Kong before another stint in Moscow.

He found the Indochina's Communist Party in the 1930's, and worked for independence of Viet Nam from its French masters. During World War II he fought the Japanese occupiers. On the eve of Japan's surrender, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam in Hanoi with himself as President.

The French, returning after the War, did not recognize the new government. For the next eight years, Ho Chi Minh waged guerrilla warfare against them. Seventy years of French rule ended with their defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Subsequent peace talks in Geneva led to the division of the country between North and South for the next 20 years. Unification was achieved following the withdrawal of U. S. support for South Vietnam.

Back: Ho Chi Minh's birthplace in Kim Lien, Nghean Province