View source for Nông Đức Mạnh

{{Short description|Vietnamese politician}}
{{family name hatnote|Nông|Mạnh|lang=Vietnamese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Nông Đức Mạnh
| image               = Nong Duc Manh 2010.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = Mạnh in 2010
| order               = [[General Secretary of the Communist&nbsp;Party of Vietnam]]
| term_start          = 22 April 2001
| term_end            = 19 January 2011
| predecessor         = [[Lê Khả Phiêu]]
| successor           = [[Nguyễn Phú Trọng]]
| order1              = [[Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam|Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party]]
| term_start1         = 22 April 2001
| term_end1           = 19 January 2011
| predecessor1        = [[Lê Khả Phiêu]]
| successor1          = [[Nguyễn Phú Trọng]]
| order2              = [[Chairman of the National Assembly of&nbsp;Vietnam]]
| term_start2         = 23 September 1992
| term_end2           = 27 June 2001
| predecessor2        = [[Lê Quang Đạo]]
| successor2          = [[Nguyễn Văn An]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1940|9|11|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Na Rì]], [[Bắc Kạn Province]], [[Tonkin (French protectorate)|Tonkin]], [[French Indochina]]
| spouse              = {{ubl|{{marriage|Lý Thị Bang|1962|2010|end=died}}|{{marriage|Đỗ Thị Huyền Tâm|2012}}}}
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[Saint Petersburg State Forestry University|Leningrad Forestry Institute]]|Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics}}
| party               = [[Communist Party of Vietnam]]
| signature           = Signature of Ngô Đức Mạnh.svg
}}
 
'''Nông Đức Mạnh''' ({{IPA|vi|nəwŋm ɗɨ́k mâjŋ̟ˀ|lang|Nong Duc Manh.ogg}}; born 11 September 1940<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tulieuvankien.dangcongsan.vn/lanh-dao-dang-nha-nuoc/tong-bi-thu/dong-chi-nong-duc-manh-68 |title=Đồng chí Nông Đức Mạnh |date=16 April 2018 |website=Tư liệu − Văn kiện Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nma}}</ref>) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of Vietnam]], the most powerful position in the [[Vietnam|Socialist Republic of Vietnam]], from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011.<ref>Vietnam: Foreign Policy and Government Guide International Business Publications, USA. – 2007 Page 8 "Vietnamese Government Communist state – General Secretary Nông Ðức Mạnh – President Nguyễn Minh Triết – Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng "</ref> His parents were [[Tay (people)|Tày]] peasants.<ref name="OfficialBio">[http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/news/story.php?d=20010422215101 Biography of Nông Đức Mạnh, the General Secretary of the CPV], VNA, 22 April 2001</ref> Nông Đức Mạnh was born in [[Cường Lợi, Bắc Kạn|Cường Lợi]], [[Na Rì District]], [[Bắc Kạn Province]]. His son Nông Quốc Tuấn is the party secretary for [[Bắc Giang Province]].

==Background==
It has long been rumoured that Nông Đức Mạnh is the illegitimate son of [[Hồ Chí Minh]] (1890–1969) and Nông Thị Trưng (1921–2003), Hồ's housekeeper from 1941–42. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party leader.<ref name="rumor">Duiker, William J. (2000). ''Ho Chi Minh''. New York: Hyperion. Kindle location 11915. eBook {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0561-1}}.</ref> In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Nông Thị Trưng was identified as his mother.<ref name="GioiMoi">A footnote reads, "Mrs. Nông Thị Trưng is the mother of Comrade Nông Đức Mạnh" ("Tổng Bí thư Nông Đức Mạnh trong ký ức của một người thầy" ("A teacher remembers General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh"), ''Thế Giới Mới'' (''New World''), Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam, 30 April 2001, No. 434.)</ref>

Nông Đức Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as 11 September 1940 and states that he was born to a peasant family from the [[Tày people|Tày]] ethnic minority<ref>''Từ điển Bách khoa Việt Nam'' (The Encyclopedia of Vietnam), volume 3 (N-S), Hanoi, 2003. p. 302.</ref> when Hồ Chí Minh was still in China.<ref name="theage">{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/14/1029113955533.html|title=Great 'Uncle Ho' may have been a mere mortal|date=15 August 2002|publisher=The Age|access-date=2 August 2009}}</ref> Ho returned to Vietnam in February 1941<ref>Green, Richard E. [http://www.tactileint.com/seasia/saigon/hochiminh.html Hồ Chí Minh biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306181644/http://www.tactileint.com/seasia/saigon/hochiminh.html |date=2010-03-06 }}</ref> and met Trưng in July. Hồ wrote a four-line poem for Trưng in 1944, and gave her a notebook as "a token of my love".<ref>''"This notebook I endear it to my beloved niece/As a token of my love/With the wish that you try to study/To build the nation later on..."'' (Hồ Chí Minh, "Tặng cháu Nông Thị Trưng" ("Present for Nông Thị Trưng"), 1944); in Vietnamese, see [http://vannghequandoi.com.vn/binh-lun-vn-ngh/hc-tp-a-lam-theo-tm-gng-o-c-h-chi-minh/3396-tr-em-trong-th-bac-h.html here] and [http://www.tuoitre.com.vn/tianyon/PrintView.aspx?ArticleID=203635&ChannelID=410 here].</ref> This poem was later taught to elementary school students.

In April 2001, shortly after Nông Đức Mạnh was named as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam]], a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, ''"All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Hồ."'' When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a ''[[Time Asia]]'' reporter, he denied he was Hồ's son and stated that his father was named Nông Văn Lại and his mother Hoàng Thị Nhị.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020208004050/http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/interview/0,9754,195506,00.html "We don't want to keep secrets anymore"], ''Time Asia'', 22 January 2002.</ref>

==Early life and political career==
In 1958–61, Nông Đức Mạnh attended the Hanoi Higher School. From 1962–63, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the [[Communist Party of Vietnam|Communist Party]] on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964. From 1963–65, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the [[Bạch Thông]] wood exploitation {{Clarify|date=February 2012}} team; he later returned to his studies, learning Russian at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College (from 1965–66). He traveled to [[Leningrad]], where he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bắc Thái provincial forestry inspection board.<ref name="OfficialBio"/>

[[File:Duc Manh.jpg|thumb|left|Nông Đức Mạnh with [[George W. Bush]]]]
From 1973–74, Nông Đức Mạnh served as director of the [[Phú Lương]] State Forestry Camp in Bắc Thái province. From 1974–76, he studied at the Nguyễn Ái Quốc High-Level Party School. From 1976–80, he served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising through the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bắc Thái Provincial Party Committee from 1976–83. In 1984, he was named deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the [[6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam|6th National Congress]] he was elected as an alternate member of the [[Central Committee]]. At the sixth party plenum in March 1989, he was elevated to full central committee member. Since 1991, he has been in the [[politburo]]. From 23 September 1992, he was [[Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam]], thereby being one of the youngest when standing on the stage of honor of a [[Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam]].<ref>[[Communist Party of Vietnam]]. ''9th National Congress: Documents''. Hanoi: Thế Giới Publishers, 2001. pp. 261–63.</ref>

Nông Đức Mạnh was selected General Secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He retired on 19 January 2011 after [[11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]. He is the first Vietnamese party head with a university degree. He announced his plans for Vietnam's future as an industrialised country, to be completed by 2020.<ref name="BBC">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1291000.stm "Modernising leader for Vietnam"], BBC News, 22 April 2001.</ref>

==Awards and honors==
*{{flag|Vietnam}}:
**[[File:Vietnam_Gold_Star_ribbon.png|70px]] [[Gold Star Order]] (20 January 2025)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/politics/former-party-leader-nong-duc-manh-former-pm-nguyen-tan-dung-receive-golden-star-order-vietnam-government-s-highest-decoration-4841416.html|title=Former Party leader Nong Duc Manh, former PM Nguyen Tan Dung receive Golden Star Order, Vietnam government's highest decoration|lang=|newspaper=VnExpress International|date=2025-01-20|access-date=2025-07-14}}</ref>

*{{flag|Cuba}}:
**[[File:Ribbon_jose_marti.png|70px]] [[Order of José Martí]] (6 March 2004)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.granma.cu/granmad/secciones/visitas/viet_nam/art03.html|title=Recibe Nong Duc Manh la Orden José Martí|date=2004-03-07|newspaper=Granma|access-date=2023-04-08}}</ref>

*{{flag|Russia}}:
**[[File:Orden_of_Friendship.png|70px]] [[Order of Friendship]] (7 February 2000)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/15163|title=Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 07.02.2000 г. № 308|newspaper=President of Russia|date=2000-02-07 |access-date= April 8, 2023}}</ref>
**[[File:Medal_Pushkin_rib.png|70px]] [[Medal of Pushkin]] (28 February 2008)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/26964|title=Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 28.02.2008 г. № 261|newspaper=President of Russia|date=2008-02-28 |access-date= April 8, 2023}}</ref>

*{{flag|Japan}}:
**[[File:JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg|70px|ribbon bar]] [[Order of the Rising Sun|Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun]] (3 November 2025)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100928066.pdf|title= 2025 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals|access-date= 4 November 2025|date= 3 November 2025|website= Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
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{{Commons category}}

{{s-start}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{succession box|title=[[General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]|before=[[Lê Khả Phiêu]]|after=[[Nguyễn Phú Trọng]]|years=2001–2011}}
{{S-off}}
{{succession box|
title=[[List of Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam|Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam]]|
before=[[Lê Quang Đạo]]|
after=[[Nguyễn Văn An]]|
years=1992–2001}}
{{s-end}}
{{VietnamFirstSecs}}
{{Chairpersons of the National Assembly of Vietnam}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nong, Duc Manh}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:People from Bắc Kạn province]]
[[Category:Tày people]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (Vietnam)]]
[[Category:Vietnamese expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Saint-Petersburg State Forestry University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of Pushkin]]
[[Category:General secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the Standing Committee of the 8th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Alternates of the 6th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun]]