Professor Dinh Xuan Lam - The country's leading historian

Professor Dinh Xuan Lam was born on February 4, 1925, in Ha Tinh, in a family of Nguyen Dynasty officials. His father was once the district chief of Yen Dinh, Thanh Hoa province. In the early 1930s, as a teenager, his family sent him to study in Hue from elementary school to high school.
After graduating with a full Baccalaureate in Philosophy and Literature from Hue National School, Dinh Xuan Lam returned to Thanh Hoa and decided to choose teaching as a career, becoming one of the first high school teachers in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam right after the success of the August Revolution in 1945. During the resistance war against French colonialism, he taught high school and participated in the Trade Union work in the Thanh Hoa Education sector.
At the end of 1954, he was sent to Hanoi to study at the Faculty of Education, History and Geography. After graduating from university in 1956, he was retained as a lecturer in History at Hanoi University (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi) and worked there until his retirement (in 1990). After 1975, in addition to universities and academies in Hanoi, he was also invited to lecture at many universities in the southern provinces from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City. In the early 1980s, he was also invited to be an educational expert in Madagascar and a visiting professor in the Netherlands and the French Republic. During nearly 4 decades of teaching and researching at the Faculty of History, he has constantly strived for expertise, was awarded the title of Professor, People's Teacher by the State and especially, contributed to creating a school of History - the General University school.
During more than half a century of teaching and scientific research (even after retirement), he has always been closely attached to the History industry, and has left deep impressions in the memories of colleagues and students through lectures on modern Vietnamese history, the Can Vuong movement, or the characteristics of French imperialism, etc. Later, with his experiences and work experience, he further understood that teaching is truly a noble profession. He once said: "If there is an afterlife, I will still choose to be a teacher."

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As of 2015, in nearly sixty years of writing (from the time he stayed at the university as a lecturer in 1956 until the publication of his last publication in 2015), he has published more than 500 scientific publications including monographs, reference books, textbooks, manuals, and magazine articles. His scientific activity space is very wide and diverse in terms of types and research topics. In the field of History, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam's research topics are also very diverse, but all focus on Vietnamese history in the modern and contemporary period with the following outstanding contributions:
1. Research to clarify the history of the struggle against the French colonialists, especially the armed struggles of the Vietnamese people to protect and regain national independence from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, typically the Yen The peasant uprising, the anti-French movement in the Northwest region, the Ba Dinh base and the Hung Linh uprising in Thanh Hoa, the Huong Son - Huong Khe uprising and the Can Vuong movement in Nghe Tinh, etc.
2. The second contribution is reflected in the studies on the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh, from secret activities abroad to the ideology of national independence and most comprehensively - the national liberation hero - world cultural celebrity Ho Chi Minh. Some studies by Professor Dinh Xuan Lam have a high level of generalization when assessing the origin of Ho Chi Minh's patriotic and revolutionary ideology and his contributions in the cultural and political aspects.
3. Contributions in research introducing historical figures. These figures are mostly patriotic scholars and writers who fought against the French in modern times, and have been approached and evaluated objectively from many aspects, contributing to correct and complete understandings of their lives and careers, especially the contributions and roles of some key figures in the movement to fight against the French to protect and regain national independence from the second half of the 19th century to the early 20th century. Most of these studies were later collected and published in anthologies with the same names as authors such as Chuong Thau, Do Quang Hung or Truong Huu Quynh (Education Publishing House, Hanoi, 1988, 1992 and 2005).
4. Discover and introduce new documents related to a number of historical figures and patriotic and revolutionary movements from the late 20th century to before 1945, such as the life and death of Hoang Hoa Tham, the works of Phan Boi Chau; some archival documents about Nguyen Ai Quoc in France; or leaflets of the Communist International (1924), about some newly discovered issues of Le Paria newspaper, or the French government's records on the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement (1930 - 1931), etc.
5. Another outstanding contribution of Professor Dinh Xuan Lam is shown in the exchange and academic dialogue with international scholars. Through articles introducing books published in specialized journals, or at scientific seminars, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam has raised many issues to discuss and exchange opinions with foreign scholars on the sources of documents used, ways of identifying and evaluating some events, characters or contents of Vietnamese history mentioned in typical research works such as the book "Central Vietnam - Northern Vietnam: The years 1885 - 1896 (literati and peasants facing the colonial conquest)" by Professor Charles Fourniau[1], book "Phan Boi Chau and Vietnamese society in his time" by Professor Georges Boudarel[2], the book "Ho Chi Minh - From Indochina to Vietnam" by Professor Daniel Hémery[3], book "Ho Chi Minh - from revolutionary to idol" by Professor Pierre Brocheux[4](France); Or research works on Vietnam by Professor Shiraishi Masaya[5](Japan) on Phan Boi Chau and the Vietnamese national movement. In addition, there are several monographs, compiled very elaborately by foreign authors on the August Revolution in Vietnam, such as the work of Professor David G. Marr (Australia), with the work "Vietnam 1945: Seizing Power" (Vietnam 1945 The Quest for Power, California 1995), or the book "The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War" (The Vietnamese Revolution of 1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh and de Gaulle in a World at War) by Professor SteinTonnesson (Norway) were also commented on and sincerely contributed by Professor Dinh Xuan Lam and a number of researchers of the Vietnam Historical Science Association in a scientific discussion held in Hanoi at the end of the last century, in the spirit of criticism, objectively evaluating both the successes and the things that need to be further researched and discussed.

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In more than 500 works and articles published in many publishing houses and specialized journals (mostly the Journal of Historical Research, the Journal of Military History and the Journal of Party History), Professor Dinh Xuan Lam's first and greatest concern is the issues of the plots and tricks of the French colonialists to invade Vietnam and the movement to fight against colonialism for the independence of the Vietnamese people. In his research, he has exposed the brutal acts, the evil and sinister nature of the invaders, and at the same time analyzed and clarified the role of the tradition of patriotism, the sense of national self-reliance, especially the strength of national unity and the determination to fight for independence and freedom of our people.
For historical figures, especially those with doubts such as Nguyen Tri Phuong, Hoang Dieu, or with conflicting opinions such as Phan Thanh Gian, Ton That Thuyet, Nguyen Van Tuong, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam's research has focused on exploiting sources of documents, especially new documents, while using a multidimensional approach, placed in a specific historical context and conditions to analyze from the viewpoints to the actions of the characters, thereby drawing comprehensive, objective, and convincing comments for readers. These are the unique, outstanding, and important contributions of Professor Dinh Xuan Lam in untangling the tangles and "knots" in historical research, contributing to scientific awareness that is consistent and close to historical reality.
What is admirable and should be appreciated about teacher and scientist Dinh Xuan Lam is that throughout his life, he almost did not care about position or status. During his years of teaching in Thanh Hoa, he participated in the work of the education sector but all were union activities. Later, when he became a lecturer at Hanoi University, the highest position he held was Head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of Vietnam and Chairman of the History Faculty Union. But from a professional perspective, he was highly appreciated by scholars and colleagues, and was recommended to be the Director of the UNESCO Cultural Research Center, Vice President of the Historical Science Association for many years. He was also invited to join the Scientific Council of many research agencies, many scientific journals such as the Journal of Historical Research, the Journal of Party History, the Journal of Vietnamese Military History, etc. Throughout his life, he was only passionate about his profession, diligent, dedicated, and devoted to teaching and scientific research. With a gentle, tolerant and generous personality, he is always close and friendly with his colleagues, respectful and has an equal attitude towards his students. It is the affection, respect and equal treatment of the Teacher that has helped young cadres to be more confident in studying and researching, to quickly rise to grasp professional knowledge, and gradually make academic contributions under the guidance and help of the Teacher.

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With over 90 years of age, 60 years of writing and standing on the podium, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam has demonstrated the creative working spirit, uprightness and integrity of an exemplary teacher and a true historian. He persistently pursues the path of science, is passionate about research, constantly studies and resolutely defends correct viewpoints, but is also ready to adjust and change inappropriate assessments when exposed to new research methods or new, valuable sources of information. Many of his studies are considered classics, not only suggestive and laying the foundation for the field but also orienting future studies. His lectures, presentations and research works have contributed to solving many difficult and important problems of Vietnamese History. At the same time, through in-depth research and academic exchanges with foreign scholars, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam has demonstrated his outstanding talent as a leading Vietnamese historian of international stature.
In appreciation of his scientific contributions and dedication in the field of History, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam was awarded noble awards by the Party and the State: First-class Labor Medal (2006), Third-class Independence Medal (2016). In particular, in 2021, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam posthumously awarded him the State Prize for Science and Technology for his work.Anti-colonialism Movement in Vietnam (Hanoi, 2015).
With his outstanding contributions, Professor, People's Teacher Dinh Xuan Lam deserves to be honored as a great scholar, one of the leading typical Historians of the country in the second half of the 20th century - early 21st century.

Hanoi, Spring At Ty 2025

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor, People's Teacher Dinh Xuan Lam (1925 - 2025)