| Nông Đức Mạnh | |
 Mạnh has led Vietnam since 2001 |
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| Incumbent | |
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Assumed office 22 April 2001 |
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| President | Trần Đức Lương Nguyễn Minh Triết |
| Prime Minister | Phan Văn Khải Nguyễn Tấn Dũng |
| Preceded by | Lê Khả Phiêu |
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| Born | September 11, 1940 Na Rì District, Bắc Kạn province |
| Political party | Communist Party of Vietnam |
Nông Đức Mạnh 
pronunciation
(help·info) (born 11 September
1940) is the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam,
the most powerful position in the Vietnamese government. He has
held this position since 22 April 2001.
Although his official biography states that his parents were peasants of the Tày ethnic group,[1] one rumor claims that Mạnh is in fact the son of North Vietnamese leader Hồ Chí Minh.[2] This rumor is said to be a factor in his rapid rise in the party.[2] He was born in Cường Lợi, Na Rì District, Bắc Kạn province.
Mạnh is the father of Nông Quốc Tuấn, deputy party secretary for Bắc Giang province.
Contents |
In 1958-1961 Mạnh attended the Hanoi Agro-Forestry Secondary Higher School. From 1962 to 1963, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the Communist Party on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964.[1]
From 1963 to 1965, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the Bach Thong wood exploitation team. He then returned to his studies, and was taught the Russian language at Hanoi Foreign Languages College 1965-1966. He then travelled to Leningrad, Soviet Union, were he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bac Thai provincial forestry inspection board.[1]
From 1973 to 1974, Mạnh served as director of the Phu Luong State Forestry Camp in Bac Thai province. From 1974 to 1976, Mạnh studied at the Nguyễn Ái Quốc High-Level Party School. From 1976 to 1980, Mạnh served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising with the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bac Thai Provincial Party Committee from 1976 to 1983.
In 1984, Mạnh became the deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the sixth national party 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 sitting in the politburo of the party.[3]
Mạnh was selected general secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He is first boss of the party with a university degree.[4] Many view him as a moderniser, and he has announced that he wants Vietnam to become an industrialised country by 2020.[4]
According to one widely circulated rumor, Mạnh is the illegitimate son of Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969) and Nông Thị Trưng (1920-2003), Hồ's housekeeper in 1941-1942. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party boss.[2] In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Trưng was identified as his mother.[5] Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as September 11, 1940,[6] when Hồ was still in China.[7] Hồ returned to Vietnam in February 1941[8] 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."[9] This poem was later taught to elementary school students. In April 2001, shortly after Mạnh was selected party boss, a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, “All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Ho.” When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a Time Asia reporter, he denied that he is Hồ's son and stated that his father is Nông Văn Lai and that his mother is Hoàng Thị Nhị, both names previously unknown.[10]
| Preceded by Le Kha Phieu |
General Secretary of the
Communist Party of Vietnam 2001 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Lê Quang Đạo |
National Assembly Chairman 1992 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Nguyễn Văn An |
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