Professor Do Duc Hieu - a respected teacher and scientist in the minds of colleagues and students

Gratitude and honor for the contributions of Professor Do Duc Hieu
The scientific seminar “100th birthday of Professor, Meritorious Teacher Do Duc Hieu” attracted the participation of scientists, many colleagues, generations of students, lecturers and students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, and representatives of the professor’s family. The emotions filled with memories of the professor brought to the seminar a warm and sincere atmosphere.
Appreciating the great contributions and valuable legacies of Professor, Meritorious Teacher Do Duc Hieu, Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, said that the talkshow aims to commemorate, express gratitude and honor the Professor's contributions to the training and scientific research career of the school in particular and of Vietnam in general.

Reviewing some important milestones in the life and career of Professor Do Duc Hieu, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Xuan Thach - Head of the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, emphasized that Professor, Dr. Do Duc Hieu was present in important moments of literary research, was a scientist who had an impact on the entire Vietnamese literary research community, and was a researcher with a special position in the life of Vietnamese literary research after 1954.

The person who laid the foundation stone for many important works of literary research and translation in Vietnam.
Professor, Meritorious Teacher Do Duc Hieu belongs to the second generation to contribute to the development of the Literature industry, after the generation of scholars Dang Thai Mai, Hoai Thanh, Cao Xuan Huy, Nguyen Manh Tuong, Hoang Xuan Nhi... at Hanoi University of Science.
Professor Do Duc Hieu is one of the literary researchers highly appreciated by experts, leaving behind thousands of pages of writing, including textbooks, research, translations, laying the foundations for the modernization of literary criticism in the Renovation period. He is the chief editor of theDictionary of literature(two volumes) in 1984, of which he was the author of 67 entries; he was editor with colleagues of 10 volumes.French Literature History TextbookFrom ancient times to the present; he is the translator of many works by typical authors in French literature such asTartuffe, I Hate Life, The Miser by Molière(17th century),Paul and Virginie by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre(18th century), dramaMarion Delormeand novelsLes Miserables(general translation) by V. Hugo (19th century)...; in the seriesBilingual French Literature Collection, he edited and translated most of volume II (17th century).
From about 1992 to 2002, Professor Do Duc Hieu devoted himself to writing three works on innovation in reading and commenting on literature:Innovation in Literary Criticism (1993), Innovation in Reading and Commentary (1999), Modern Poetics (2000). As a leading expert on Western literature, Professor Do Duc Hieu is also the author of many sophisticated and profound pages on Vietnamese literature with a new poetic approach: aboutHo Xuan Huong's poetry, about The Tale of Kieu, about Nguyen Nhuoc Phap's poetry, Luu Trong Lu's poetry, works of Vu Trong Phung, Nam Cao, The Lu,...

In his introductory speech at the seminar, Lecturer Tran Hinh - Former Head of Western Literature Department, Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities shared:“It is very difficult to classify him in a narrow field. For example, if we consider him a top expert in Western literature. That is true but not enough. Because, besides his sharp writings on this field of literature, we also encounter many subtle and profound writings by him on Vietnamese literature; many people even think that he should be an expert on Vietnamese literature.
That being said, there was a period, from 1955 to 1958, when he participated in writing textbooks at the Department of Literature, Ministry of Education and Training, and was also a member of the Le Quy Don group, a group of Western scholars and Vietnamese scholars of the time, including Vu Dinh Lien, Huynh Ly, Le Tri Vien..., translating Les Miserables by the 19th century French romantic into a Vietnamese language imbued with the spirit of Hugo, but also very Vietnamese. Furthermore, reading Do Duc Hieu's writings, at times, one can recognize the knowledge of an academic, because, from the way he poses problems, explains problems to interpreting documents, analyzing texts, he is no different from a real professor of French studies; and at other times, he writes pages of clear, crisp prose like a "schoolboy". Indeed, it is very difficult to "evaluate" which quality is superior to the other.?”
At the seminar, many different aspects of the life, career and personality of Professor Do Duc Hieu were shared by generations of colleagues, students and researchers in a valuable way, such as: "Research by Do Duc Hieu and the collective work "Dictionary of Literature"”(1983-1984; 2004)"by Researcher Lai Nguyen An;“Mr. Do Duc Hieu and dramatic poetics”by Associate Professor, Dr. Le Nguyen Can;"Professor Do Duc Hieu and the process of researching and innovating methods of poetics research in Vietnam" by teacher Tran Hinh; "Remembering Do Duc Hieu - translator" by People's Teacher Le Hong Sam;“My teacher - Professor Do Duc Hieu, a way of facing the world of existentialist literary criticism in the context of the 1970s." by Associate Professor Dr. Pham Xuan Thach... It is expected that more than 30 papers from the seminar will be published into a book about Professor Do Duc Hieu as soon as possible.

Researcher Lai Nguyen An mentioned the role of Professor Do Duc Hieu in the works of Dictionary of Literature (2 volumes: 1983 - 1984) and Dictionary of Literature, new edition (2024). Associate Professor, Dr. Le Nguyen Can presented the paper "Mr. Do Duc Hieu and dramatic poetics"

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Hung (Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities) in his presentation on the topic "Professor Do Duc Hieu as a new critic"The title of the paper has two meanings. The first meaning: Professor Do Duc Hieu is admired as a New Critic, the second meaning: The professor is honored and grateful as one of the very few pioneering critics who "renew" the life of writing - researching - criticizing Vietnamese literature. Associate Professor Pham Thanh Hung emphasized: "As a pioneer in the team of literary innovators, innovators of critical thinking and artistic creation, Professor Do Duc Hieu has contributed to returning literature to its rightful homeland, to its rightful position and function. Poetics criticism is not just a trend of criticism but true art criticism, legitimate criticism.

Remembering Professor Do Duc Hieu - a gentle, humble teacher with extraordinary working capacity
Recalling the years of teaching and scientific research full of responsibility and passion of his beloved father, Mr. Vo Minh Khue - son of Professor Do Duc Hieu said that during that time, the professor was appointed to many positions at different units, but he always turned to the Faculty of Literature and was attached to the Faculty of Literature - University of General Sciences until the end of his life, now the Faculty of Literature - University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Truong Lich recalled teacher Do Duc Hieu on the opening day of the first course of students at the University in 1956, teacher Hieu was in charge of the French Literature Department.If anyone meets Mr. Hieu for the first time, they will think that he is difficult to communicate with and talk to. But Mr. Hieu is a man of few words, but very gentle, modest, profound and passionate in teaching.
What is admirable about Mr. Hieu is that he is very calm, composed, and does not need to say much. I feel like Mr. Hieu was born to do scientific research, and grew up in the library, not in a large hall! Unfortunately, his health is not good, and his working conditions are also difficult.- Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truong Lich shared.

Remembering teacher Do Duc Hieu, teacher Tran Hinh wrote:“Almost all generations of his colleagues and students can easily imagine this Do Duc Hieu: thin, pale, sometimes feeling “lacking vitality”, when sitting close to someone, he only speaks “whisperingly”, gently, but when lecturing, his voice resonates like the waves of the ocean on a windy day (sitting at the back of the class, you can still hear every clear sound of him).
Professor Do Duc Hieu's working capacity is truly extraordinary. It is hard for anyone to imagine that a person who had two-thirds of his stomach removed in his youth, with a body no different from a reed, still rode his bicycle regularly every day, rain or shine, without missing a beat, from 26 Hang Bai Street to Me Tri dormitory, the headquarters of the two faculties of Literature and History in the 70s, when he was still the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Literature; at night, he would "hunch his back" over the pages of books (due to poor eyesight, he had to wear glasses with a diopter of over 5), to produce thousands of pages of creative writing for many generations of students. In the last years of his life, due to illness, in between the pains, I know that Professor Do Duc Hieu still read and worked, although it seemed that his health was no longer allowing him to be clear-headed enough to write down creative ideas like the sedimentary layers available in his head".

In the memory of his student, Le Ngoc Tan, Professor Do Duc Hieu was a strict teacher and extremely forgiving like a father.Teachers are like silkworms spinning silk for generations of students.- Dr. Le Ngoc Tan emotionally shared.

Dr. Le Ngoc Tan (University of Culture) could not hold back his tears when remembering his teacher Do Duc Hieu. Many generations of colleagues, students and family of Professor Do Duc Hieu attended the talk and remembered their respected colleague, teacher and father.

Here is an excerpt from the memoir of Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang (former student of the 17th course, lecturer of the Faculty of Literature) to conclude and express gratitude to Professor Do Duc Hieu: “He was a man who worked all his life. He had no time for making a living or for all the frivolous things in life. His dozens of books and hundreds of research articles were the result of a lifetime of work, exhausting himself without any desire for fame or profit. He stood outside of all the competition, competition, and elections. He only carried on his body the sacred cross of his educational career.(Memoir "A Hundred Years From Here" - Literature Publishing House - Hanoi).
Press reported:
VOV:Teacher of teachers and researchers of Western literature
VNU:Professor Do Duc Hieu - a respected teacher and scientist in the minds of colleagues and students