UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Christian Manhart addresses the event (Photo: VNA) According to UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Christian Manhart, during the UNESCO’s 41st General Assembly in Paris in November 2021, 193 members of the agency approved a resolution to celebrate the Vietnamese poet’s birthday in 2022.
The representative explained that the General Assembly made this decision because Nguyen Dinh Chieu was an outstanding figure, one of the most honoured Vietnamese poets whose works were translated into many languages.
According to Associate Prof. Dr. Pham Lan Oanh, Vice Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu had greatly influenced the lifestyle of people in Ben Tre in particular and the southern region in general over the past nearly 200 years. She gave a number of proposals to preserve and promote the cultural values left by the celebrity, including the strengthening of teaching and studying of and the digitalisation of his works.
Secretary of the Party Committee of Ben Tre Le Duc Tho said that Nguyen Dinh Chieu, with his talents and strong will to overcome adversities, is a mirror in morality, patriotism and resilience for generations of Ben Tre and the southern region in general.
Nguyen Dinh Chieu, also known as teacher Chieu, Trong Phu and Hoi Trai, (1822 – 1888) was born in Binh Duong district, Gia Dinh province (now District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).
He was a patriotic teacher, physician and poet of the south of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century.
He is best known for his most prominent epic “Luc Van Tien” (The Tale of Luc Van Tien), written in “nom” (the old Chinese-based Vietnamese script) in 1850s. The work has been translated into multiple languages, including French, English and Japanese./.
VNA
