Professor Ha Minh Duc with the Faculty of Literature

This May marks the 80th birthday of Professor, People's Teacher Ha Minh Duc, a respected teacher, literary scientist, theoretical and critical writer, journalist, poet... who has made many great contributions to the cultural, artistic, scientific and educational life of the country. He was a lecturer at the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University of Education (1957 - 1960); lecturer at the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University, then the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (1960 - 2005); Deputy Head of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University (1987 - 1988); Head of the Faculty of Journalism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (1990 - 2000); Director of the Institute of Literature, Editor-in-ChiefLiterary Magazine(1995 - 2003); Member of the National Education Committee (since 1998); Member of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art (since 2003); Member of the AssociationVietnam Writers Association; MemberVietnam Journalists AssociationHe was awarded: Second-class Anti-American National Salvation Medal, Third-class Labor Medal in 1995; First-class Labor Medal in 2000; Title of People's Teacher in 2000; Prize for Theory and Criticism -Vietnam Writers Association1998; State Prize for Scientific Research 2000; State Prize for Literature and Arts 2001; Ho Chi Minh Prize for Social Sciences 2012.

The positions, professional titles, and noble awards achieved are associated with three major stages in Professor Ha Minh Duc's life as a teacher with many literary debts: 10 years with the Faculty of Journalism, 8 years with the Institute of Literature, and 45 years with the Faculty of Literature, 45 consecutive years because while working at the Faculty of Journalism and the Institute of Literature, he still worked in parallel, taking on many important tasks at the Faculty of Literature. The place where he cherished his dreams, where he realized his plans, where he became famous in his literary career was first of all the Faculty of Literature. Among the tens of thousands of students through 59 training courses of the Faculty of Literature, there were countless students who were his direct or indirect students, some who studied all the textbooks he taught from university to graduate school, some who listened to him teach a few subjects, some who learned through the books he wrote, some who only had time to listen to him teach one class and then went straight to the front in the resistance war against America to save the country. He taughtVietnamese Literature 1930 - 1945,Literary theory(all 4 parts:General principle,Literary work,Literary genre,Composition method), fourth year topicLiterary and journalistic signatures, graduate topicsMarx, Engels, Lenin discuss literature and art,Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on literature and art,Poetry and some issues in modern Vietnamese poetry, PhD topicThe process of literary theory movementetc. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, former student of the Faculty of Literature, course VIII (1963 - 1967) wrote in his memoirs: “Mr. Duc was both the head teacher and the teacher of Literary Theory and topics on Modern Vietnamese Literature. When he taught, we attended in large numbers and enthusiastically, not only because he was the head teacher of our class, but mainly because we really liked the subjects he taught. He taught in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember, gentle, lively and comfortable way. The theoretical concepts were abstractly generalized, but he incorporated vivid illustrative examples drawn from the practice of Vietnamese and world literature”. He guided students to write scientific reports, essays, yearbooks, graduation theses, guided graduate students to write Master's theses, guided doctoral students to write PhD theses, with any student, he was dedicated, attentive, gave specific instructions, and made reasonable corrections to achieve perfection. Among the 25 PhDs that he guided, there were four people in a department that he had been in charge of for many years. “Although the feelings he had for each person were different, there was one thing that was not different: the nurturing, the help, the responsibility, and the love of a teacher. In the Faculty of Literature, the old University of General Sciences, there was no department where almost 100% of the trained staff had become pillars, and were guided by only one teacher, like in the Department of Literary Theory.”

Throughout his life as a teacher, Professor Ha Minh Duc devoted himself to two main tasks: teaching and research. For him, research is first and foremost to support teaching, but many of his research works have reached great academic value. It is difficult to imagine his work schedule, when he both teaches and does administrative work and has to read reference materials to write so many pages of books. More than 40 books he wrote are aimed at many areas of cultural and artistic life. There are major issues:C. Marx, F. Engels, VI. Lenin and some issues of literary theory;Literary essay;Writer and works;Time and pages;Literary talent and style;Revolutionary practice and poetic creativity;An era in poetry; Modern Vietnamese literature; Anti-American poetry to save the country… There are specific authors and works:President Ho Chi Minh - great poet of the nation;Literary works of President Ho Chi Minh;To Huu - revolution and poetry;Nam Cao, an excellent realist writer.;Nguyen Binh, poet of the countryside;Nguyen Dinh Thi - the phoenix from the mountain;Che Lan Vien - flowers growing on rocks;Anh Tho - wild flower… He is the editor-in-chief of the book series.Vietnamese Literature from the 10th Century to the End of the 20th Century, book seriesAbout the author(36 great authors in Vietnamese literature). His research works, the books in which he devoted all his intelligence and enthusiasm, have been a source of light full of intellectual energy and emotional energy illuminating the journey to the future of many generations of literature students.

In daily life, he is a simple, humble, sociable, and friendly person with everyone. His students in the Faculty of Literature and many others who met him received from him gentle yet profound lessons about how to live and the meaning of life. “In our Faculty of Literature, most of the current staff are either direct students or have been guided and helped by him in the process of studying and doing science, and they all feel that: with Mr. Duc, talking about fun things, things unrelated to expertise, literature are all life stories, also a way to exchange information, a way to learn and very useful for work. Many things he said, seemingly out of the blue, when thinking back at home, I realized how cleverly, gently and deeply he said them” (Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long). “Not only is he a scientific mentor, Professor Ha Minh Duc is also a vivid role model for us to learn about human relations, the ability to harmonize relationships, the ability to 'humorize' serious matters, the ability to ease the overly tense atmosphere of meetings and elections…” (Associate Professor, Dr. Ly Hoai Thu).

Nearly 60 years standing in the university lecture hall and over 40 books contributing to life, with many glories achieved, now the Master turns 80. I wish the Master longevity and good health to continue writing pages of life and literature.

May 2015