President Ho Chi Minh’s Prison Diary republished in German (Photo: VNA) Berlin (VNA) – The famous “Nhat Ky Trong Tu” (PrisonDiary) written by late President Ho Chi Minh during the early 1940s has been republishedin German by two German citizens on the occasion of his 130th birthday(1890-2020).
Dr. Erhard Scherner – a writer and poet andhis spouse Helga Scherner, who studied Chineselanguage and culture in Leipzig, Berlin and Beijing, translated the diary fromthe Chinese version to German to show their admiration and respect for PresidentHo Chi Minh’s personality and talent.
Speaking at an event to introduce the book on September 10, Dr. Scherner said throughmore than 100 poems translated into German, readers can feel the contents ofthe great thought of the Vietnamese late leader, as well as messages imbuedwith humanity and revolutionary spirit in his simple poems.
Despite being imprisoned in Guangxi, China, with the extraordinary mettle andwill, President Ho Chi Minh always maintained his belief, optimism, andaspiration for freedom, equality, and boundless love for the humankind, hestressed.
According to Dr. Scherner, he and his wife unintentionally read President HoChi Minh's four quartet poems in a Chinese literary newspaper in 1957, and wereimmediately impressed. Since then, they have learned about the President andcollected his other poems from various sources.
They translated andpublished the first German version of the diary in late 1975 and early 1976. There-publishing is hoped help more readers understand more about President Ho ChiMinh - a typical revolutionary leader, a national hero and a world cultural celebrity.
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Nguyen Minh Vu thankedMr and Mrs Scherner for their enthusiasm and affection to translate the diary,saying that they have contributed to helping German readers to betterunderstand about the late President's life and career.
President Ho Chi Minh's thought is the ideological foundation and guideline forthe Communist Party of Vietnam at present, he said, expressing the hope thatthe collection of poems would be warmly welcomed by German readers as well asthe Vietnamese community in the country.
“Nhat Ky Trong Tu” is a collection of more than 100 poems written in Chinesecharacters during 12 months between 1942 and 1943 when Ho Chi Minh was imprisonedin China's Guangxi province.
Over the past50 years, the work has been translated into many foreign languages and becomethe inspiration for both domestic and international artists./.
VNA
