You are always a shining lighthouse

Prof. Dr. Dinh Xuan Lam is a great teacher, who has had a profound influence on both the professional aspects and career orientation and attitude towards the profession of many generations of students. I was not fortunate enough to study with him at university level. When I was a second-year student of the Faculty of History, Hanoi National University, he returned to the school after completing his State-assigned mission in the Republic of Madagascar (1982). I still remember that during a specialized class, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam visited the class. After that, he taught us one period. So officially, I only had one period of study with him. But later, during my research and teaching career, I was fortunate enough to be close to him and learn many things from him.

Professor Phan Huy Le and Professor Dinh Xuan Lam - two famous Vietnamese Historians

Professor Dinh Xuan Lam is a person who loves teaching and History passionately, with all his mind, intellect and heart. He once shared: “If there is a next life, I still want to be a history teacher!”. That love for the profession was passed down to me from the great master of History, Professor Tran Van Giau. From Professor Tran Van Giau to Professor Dinh Xuan Lam to the generations of teachers and students of the History Department after that, it was like a long river that passed on that enthusiasm. It is true that one must have a great love, must have a bond like destiny to follow the teaching profession, the History profession to the end. That is also the most valuable thing that this great teacher has passed on to us, the generations of students.

From left to right: late Professor Tran Quoc Vuong, Professor Ha Van Tan, Professor Phan Huy Le and Professor Dinh Xuan Lam on the birthday of late Professor Dao Duy Anh

When teaching a topic on the History of the August Revolution at the Faculty of History, I decided to "reward" the students after the lively study and discussion sessions. Without warning them in advance, I invited Professor Dinh Xuan Lam to visit the class. When they saw the teacher suddenly appear at the classroom door, some students burst into tears. Because for generations of students of the Faculty of History, even though the teacher had retired a long time ago, even though they had never met him, never heard him teach, they still admired and respected him as one of the legends of the Faculty of History. I recounted this memory to show that the teacher's name and image alone were a great source of encouragement and motivation for students and trainees of the History major.

In life, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam is a gentle and kind person. But in his profession, he is very strict. During the times I was fortunate enough to be close to him and receive professional teachings from him, he always reminded me: the most precious thing for a historian is historical data. When analyzing historical data, one must be careful, have a sense of criticism and debate from content to form. That is the most important "inner teaching" that I learned from him.

Prof. People's Teacher Dinh Xuan Lam and Prof. People's Teacher Doan Thien Thuat (Faculty of Linguistics) at the opening ceremony of the 2012-2013 school year at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU.

He especially values ​​multi-dimensional dialogue in historical research and always puts himself in a position of academic dialogue with those who have different professional views. He always respects the opinions of other scholars, but he never compromises on expertise. Only when he hears clear arguments about the source of historical data, ways of criticizing, analyzing historical data and drawing appropriate conclusions will he accept.

Another thing we learned from him is the spirit of cooperation in research. He wrote very few monumental works alone, but he had hundreds of works that he led and shared ideas with his students. He was also very good at "simplifying" historical knowledge so that even non-History majors could easily understand and enjoy it. This is also the concern of history teachers today, when the negative impacts of modern life push people to live pragmatically, to live in a hurry, and it is difficult to find a peaceful space to delve into the beauty of literature or history. How can we convey historical knowledge to society in a natural way, without being rigid and constrained? How can students, when studying history, love their country and culture more? This is what teacher Dinh Xuan Lam has done and done very successfully.

The beloved teacher of generations of students of the Faculty of History - Professor, People's Teacher Dinh Xuan Lam turns 90 this year. And for us - those who are fortunate to have received valuable professional and life knowledge from him - he will forever be a shining lighthouse guiding the way...