Prince Souphanovong Memorial House in Vientiane, which was the place where the prince's family lived from 1976 to 1995, kept a lot of memories of the prince’s family with President Ho Chi Minh. Mr. Vinaythong is the 6th son of the prince whose Vietnamese name is Nguyen Van Chinh, the name given by President Ho Chi Minh when he first met his family in Viet Bac base in 1950 at his age of 4.

Mr. Chinh recalled that the four of them were named Quang - Minh - Chinh – Dai by Uncle Ho, the names that he said are 4 important criteria of revolutionary morality.

After leaving the Viet Bac base, Mr. Vinaythong also met Uncle Ho many times when his father, Prince Souphanouvong, had working visits with him.

In 1969, when he came to Vietnam for work and entered the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Hospital for medical treatment, Mr. Vinaythong also met Uncle Ho. It was also the last time Mr. Vinaythong met him.

When Uncle Ho passed away, during the resistance war, the prince’s family set up an altar for worshipping Uncle Ho in a cave. “We considered the altar like that worshipping our ancestors," he said.

In 1975, Laos was liberated and Prince Souphanouvong was elected the first President of Laos. When the family moved to the memorial house, Prince Souphanouvong restored Uncle Ho's altar in the most solemn position in the house. Every time he offered incense and flowers, the whole family always gathered together to talk and review memories with Uncle Ho.

"I think everyone has a feeling that Uncle Ho is a very human person, no one else but a very great person with a really great vision, ideology and career," Mr. Vinaythong said.

Prince Souphanovong Memorial House in Vientiane has become a red address for Lao people and international visitors to learn about the first Lao President’s life and career, and the relationship of friendship and solidarity between Laos and Vietnam founded by President Ho Chi Minh, President KaysonePhomvihan and Prince Souphanouvong, and fostered by the next generations./.

Compiled by BTA