Vũ Văn Thái[1][2] (26 January 1919 – 19 April 1994) was a Vietnamese engineer and economist, and former Ambassador of the Republic of Vietnam to the United States.[3]

Vũ Văn Thái
Thái in Taipei, 1960
South Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States
In office
16 December 1965 – December 1966
PresidentNguyễn Văn Thiệu
Preceded byTrần Thiện Khiêm
Succeeded byBùi Diễm
Personal details
Born(1919-01-26)26 January 1919
Hanoi, French Indochina
Died19 April 1994(1994-04-19) (aged 75)
Saint-Tropez, France
SpouseSimone Garoute
Children3
Signature

Life edit

Early life edit

Vũ Văn Thái was born on 26 January 1919 in Hanoi, French Indochina.[4][5][6]

After receiving secondary education in Vietnam, Vũ Văn Thái went to France to study.[5] From 1939 to 1944, he studied at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and received a diploma in science. From 1944 to 1946, he entered the National Scientific Research Center on a scholarship.[7]From 1946 to 1949, Vũ Văn Thái served as laboratory director at the National Scientific Research Center.[7] He graduated from Sorbonne University in 1954 with a Master of Science diploma.[8]

Although Vũ Văn Thái's father, a famous Vietnamese textile manufacturer, was murdered by the Việt Minh in 1947,[9] As a Viet Minh sympathizer, Vũ Văn Thái supported the Viet Minh's resistance to the French colonialists in the late 1940s and early 1950s.[10][11] During this period, he served as Hồ Chí Minh's adviser in the negotiations for Vietnam's independence.[11][12] When efforts to negotiate failed, fighting broke out between the Việt Minh and the French, and Vũ Văn Thái left the Việt Minh after confirming their communist nature.[11]

Political career edit

 
Vo Man Thai attending the Honolulu Conference in 1966

After the Geneva Conference in 1954, Vũ Văn Thái joined the government of the State of Vietnam.[5][11]He successively served as the director of the Tonggan Dam Reconstruction Planning Bureau,[7] and director of the Budget and Foreign Aid Bureau.[note 1][13] In 1961, a conflict broke out between Vũ Văn Thái and Ngô Đình Diệm, and he resigned from the government.[5] He then moved to the United Nations Secretariat, where he served first as a consultant in the Finance and Financial Sector and then as a consultant to the Government of Togo.[13]

After Diệm was overthrown by a coup, Vũ Văn Thái returned to Vietnam and was appointed ambassador to the United States, but he declined the appointment after Nguyễn Khánh launched a military coup and returned to the United Nations Secretariat and was appointed as the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [13]

In 1965, Vũ Văn Thái served as the third Ambassador of the Republic of Vietnam to the United States, and submitted his credentials to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on 16 December 1965.[14] In December 1966, Vũ Văn Thái was replaced as ambassador to the United States.[15]

On 19 April 1994, Vũ Văn Thái passed away in Saint-Tropez, France.[4]

Family edit

His wife, Simone Garoute, is French, and they have three daughters.[3][5][10]

Notes edit

  1. ^ 越南語:Tổng Nha Ngân Sách và Ngọai Viện

References edit

  1. ^ "中越關係". ktli.sinica.edu.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  2. ^ 葉惠芬 (2009-04-01). 陳誠先生從政史料選輯:行政院美援運用委員會會議紀錄〈二〉. 國史館. pp. 796–797. ISBN 9789860182989. Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17. 越南經濟訪問團中,有顧問一人,係由越南政府預算及外援局局長武文泰擔任,武局長並擔任政府其他重要公職,對中越經濟合作素表興趣
  3. ^ a b "Vietnamese Ex-Envoy Tells of Meeting Ellsberg". The New York Times. 1972-01-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  4. ^ a b "Thai Vu Van". familysearch. Archived from the original on 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Biography of Vu Van Thai, undated" (PDF). vva.vietnam.ttu.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  6. ^ Le Minh (1958). Wu, Felix L. (ed.). Vietnam. 香港: Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  7. ^ a b c United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Public Affairs (1959-07-31). Situation in Vietnam: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Public Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate, Eighty-Sixth Congress, First Session on the Situation in Vietnam. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 112. Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  8. ^ "Viet Ambassador to Speak at MSU" (PDF). The Washington Post. 1965. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  9. ^ Stanley Karnow (1965). "Soviet Interests in Curbing China Noted by Saigon's Envoy to U.S." (PDF). The Washington Post. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  10. ^ a b Stanley Karnow (1965). "Soviet Interests in Curbing China Noted by Saigon's Envoy to U.S." (PDF). 華盛頓郵報. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  11. ^ a b c d "Briefing Note For President Lyndon B. Johnson: Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Van Thai" (PDF). vva.vietnam.ttu.edu. 1966-01-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  12. ^ Thomas, Geoffrey L. (1966-03-24). "Vu Van Thai". www.thecrimson.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  13. ^ a b c "Viet Ambassador to Speak at MSU" (PDF). 華盛頓郵報. 1965. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  14. ^ United States. Department of State. Office of Media Services, United States. Department of State. Office of Public Communication (1966). The Department of State Bulletin. Vol. 第 54 卷. Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  15. ^ Times, Kathleen Teltsch Special to The New York (1971-12-31). "Vietnamese Called Ellsberg Co-Conspirator Is an Economist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2022-07-17.

External links edit

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Ambassador of Republic of Vietnam to United States
1965–1966
Succeeded by