The Life of Ho Chi Minh

Early years

Ho Chi Minh (literally, "bringer of light") is the final and most memorable pseudonym in a series of more than 50 that Vietnam's intrepid leader, originally named Nguyen Sinh Cung, acquired during the course of his remarkable life. Born in 1890 in the central Vietnamese province of Nghe An, Ho received traditional French schooling and became a teacher. From his father (who abandoned the family early on), he inherited a wanderlust that became fueled by a lifelong obsession with Vietnamese independence.

Years abroad

In 1911 Ho signed on to the crew of a French freighter; two years later a stint aboard another French ship took him to the United States, where he settled for a year in Brooklyn, New York, and found work as a laborer. Ho then left for London, where he became an assistant pastry chef. He mastered several languages—among them English, French, German, Russian, Cantonese, and Japanese. He moved to Paris for six years and became increasingly active in Socialist, Communist, and Nationalist movements. After helping to found the French Communist Party, Ho left for Moscow in 1924. It soon became clear that to foment a successful workers' revolution in Vietnam, he would have to dedicate himself to organizing his countrymen. By the end of the 1920s, several poorly organized revolts had incited aggressive French retaliation, which was only compounded by economic depression. In 1930, while based in Hong Kong, Ho consolidated a number of rebellious factions under the umbrella of the Indochinese Communist Party. However, it was not until 1941—after escaping arrest in Hong Kong, forging documentation "proving" his death, shuttling between China and the Soviet Union, and disguising himself as a Chinese journalist—that he was able to sneak back into Vietnam.

Leadership in Vietnam

Shortly thereafter Ho founded the Vietminh Independence League. In July 1945, U.S. OSS officers met with Ho; impressed with Ho's operation, they agreed to supply him with arms. In August, Ho called for a general uprising, known as the August Revolution. Ho proclaimed himself president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north. The following year, Ho, in order to rid northern Vietnam of Chinese troops, agreed to an accord with the French: Vietnam would be a "free state" within the French Union and 25,000 French troops would be stationed there. Tensions between the Vietminh and the French escalated, however, and soon led to the French-Indochina War. By 1950 the United States was supplying military aid to the French, and Ho's government was recognized by the Soviet Union and China. The French-Indochina War ended in 1954 with the Vietminh's defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu. American involvement in Vietnam escalated rapidly.

Ho died of natural causes during the Vietnam War in September 1969 at the age of 79. Ho never married—he asserted that the Vietnamese people were his family—thus he preferred the familiar "Uncle Ho." From his embalmed body in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to his portrait on Vietnamese currency, he is still very present in Vietnamese life.