Photo: baotanglichsuquocgia.vn

UNESCO adopted a Resolution on the celebration of the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday in 1987 as a national hero and a great man of culture of Vietnam. The Resolution acknowledges President Ho Chi Minh as an excellent figure of human development and calls on countries to honor President Ho Chi Minh with commemorative activities.

On September 1st 2021, the Vietnamese Embassy in India, India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the government of New Delhi organized a ceremony to dedicate a President Ho Chi Minh statue in New Delhi as part of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic ties.

On the last days of September 2021, the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile, the administration of the Recoleta district of Santiago, the Chile-Vietnam Friendship Culture Institute, and the Chilean Association of Visual Artists organized an exhibition featuring President Ho Chi Minh with the theme “National liberation hero, great man of culture”. On November 26, 2021, the Vietnamese Embassy in France and the Marseille city government held a ceremony to dedicate a plague commemorating President Ho Chi Minh in the Old Port area of Marseille, where President Ho Chi Minh first stepped foot in France in 1911. In her address, Ms. Audrey Garino, Deputy Mayor in charge of social issues, solidarity, fight against poverty and opportunity equality of Marseille, said President Ho Chi Minh was significant part of the history of Vietnam and France and their peoples.

Garino said:  “It’s the history we remember today, the history that led President Ho Chi Minh to meet Marseille city and its people during his long, eventful life. This commemorative plaque testifies to that history and it will always be here to remind us and allow us to celebrate the sincere friendship between our two peoples.”

22 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa have erected 29 statues and monuments of President Ho Chi Minh, a symbol of solidarity and friendship in places that hold memories of President Ho Chi Minh or where exchange activities between international friends were held. The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has also built memorials and museums in places where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked.

There are 11 memorial sites named after President Ho Chi Minh abroad, 8 works in China, Laos, and Thailand and 3 in France, Russia and Germany. Most of these were built with local funds. Vietnamese representative offices have also placed steles in places where Ho Chi Minh lived, studied and worked in Singapore, the UK, Slovakia, India and France. Dr. Chu Duc Tinh, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh Museum, who participated in a project to honor President Ho Chi Minh abroad from 2009 to 2019 said Ho Chi Minh had a special natural sensibility toward mankind

Mr. Tinh said: "In any country, in Asia, Europe, South America, or Central America, where we have proposed a statue of President Ho Chi Minh, we have always received strong support from the local People's Council. The city councils of Western countries belong to various parties, but we have always received approval. We are very proud that our leader is respected around the world."

According to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, Ho Chi Minh traveled to 56 countries. There are schools bearing his name in Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Korea, Mexico and Cuba. There are 20 streets named after him. Although he didn’t stay long in some North African countries, he aroused admiration in the hearts of people there. Publications, books, and movies about President Ho Chi Minh are numerous and include 40 introducing Ho Chi Minh’s biographies by foreign authors.

President Ho Chi Minh has become a symbol of Vietnam and the hero of Vietnam's national liberation./.

BTA