Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Lê Đức Thọ

Role / Field:

Vietnamese revolutionary, diplomat, and politician, first Asian Nobel laureate.

Born:

1911-10-14

Died:

1990-10-13

Century / Era:

1911s Historical Era

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Lê Đức Thọ (Vietnamese: [lē ɗɨ̌k tʰɔ̂ˀ] ; 14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), born Phan Đình Khải in Nam Dinh Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, diplomat, and politician. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, but refused the award. Lê Đức Thọ became active in Vietnamese nationalism as a teenager and spent much of his adolescence in French colonial prisons, an experience that hardened him. Thọ's nickname was "the Hammer" on account of his severity.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

In 1930, Thọ helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. French colonial authorities imprisoned him from 1930 to 1936 and again from 1939 to 1944. The French imprisoned him in one of the "tiger cage" cells on the prison located on the island of Poulo Condore (modern Côn Sơn Island) in the South China Sea, which was regarded as the harshest prison in all of French Indochina. During his time in the "tiger cage", Thọ suffered from hunger, heat, and humiliation. Together with other Vietnamese Communist prisoners, Thọ studied literature, science, and foreign languages, and acted in Molière's plays.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Despite being imprisoned...

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Frequently Asked Questions about Lê Đức Thọ