Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Comrade Hà Huy Tập’s Birth (24/4/1906 – 24/4/2026)

Comrade Hà Huy Tập was born on 24/4/1906 in Kim Nặc village, Thổ Ngọa canton, now Cẩm Hưng commune, Hà Tĩnh province, the third child in a patriotic Confucian family. His father was Mr. Hà Huy Tường, who passed the Cống sinh (tribute student) exam but did not become a mandarin; instead he stayed home teaching and practising medicine to help the people. His mother was Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Lộc, a hardworking peasant woman rich in the virtue of sacrifice, whose whole life was attached to the fields and caring for the family. Born and raised in a countryside rich in the tradition of patriotism and revolution – facing the scene of the country enslaved by foreigners and the People in misery and hardship, like many patriotic intellectuals of the time, Hà Huy Tập was early awakened and threw himself into the revolutionary path full of hardship and challenges to save the country and the people from the chains of slavery.

In his youth, Hà Huy Tập was tutored in Chinese characters at home by his father, then went to school and topped the graduation exam of the Primary School in Thổ Ngọa canton, but due to the family’s difficult circumstances could not continue studying. From September 1917 to 1919, Hà Huy Tập both worked as a tutor and studied at the Franco-Vietnamese Primary and Supplementary School in Hà Tĩnh provincial town, then passed as valedictorian and was granted a scholarship to study at the Quốc Học Huế School (1919 – 1923). In 1923, he graduated from high school with honours but, due to lacking the conditions to continue studying, became a teacher at the Franco-Vietnamese Primary School in Nha Trang (Khánh Hòa). During this time, he read a lot of books and newspapers, saw the suffering of our People under the chains of the French colonialists and was always concerned about how to drive the French colonialists out of Indochina. Because the colonial government charged him with the crime of opposing the French, Hà Huy Tập was expelled from Nha Trang.

In August 1926, Hà Huy Tập returned to Nghệ An, teaching at the Cao Xuân Dục School in Vinh; he actively participated in the activities of the Phục Việt Association to propagate anti-despotism and anti-French-colonialist ideas and to expand the association’s base among workers, youth, students and peasants. In March 1927, Hà Huy Tập left Vinh to teach at a private primary school in Gia Định, then went to Bà Rịa to work as a worker, organised the establishment of a Party cell, a book-and-newspaper reading association and opened literacy classes for workers.

At the end of December 1928, Hà Huy Tập and some comrades were sent to Guangzhou (China) to discuss the merger of the Tân Việt Revolutionary Party with the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League. From July 1929 to April 1932, the Comrade was sent to study at the University of the East in Moscow (the former Soviet Union). Around June 1933, Comrade Hà Huy Tập returned to China for revolutionary activity, joining the Overseas Leadership Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party; he carried out the preparation and organisation of the 1st Congress of the Party from 27 to 31/3/1935 in Macau, China.

At the Conference of the Party Central Committee (26/7/1936), Comrade Hà Huy Tập was assigned to return to the country to reorganise the Central Committee and restore the Party organisation. From July 1936 to March 1938, the Comrade carried out revolutionary activity in the position of General Secretary of the Party. At the Conference of the Party Central Committee in March 1938, the Comrade stepped down from the position of General Secretary, but still participated in the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee.

On 01/5/1938, on his way to work, Comrade Hà Huy Tập was arrested by the French colonialists. After 10 months of imprisonment without evidence of the crime of subversion, the enemy sentenced him to 08 months in prison and 05 years of exile, expelling him back to his native place. In March 1940, the Comrade was arrested again by the enemy and imprisoned at Khám Lớn, Saigon. On 25/3/1941, the Saigon Military Court sentenced Comrade Hà Huy Tập to death. On 28/8/1941, at Hóc Môn, Gia Định, the French colonialists executed Comrade Hà Huy Tập by firing squad together with some other leading comrades of the Party.

With 35 years of age, 16 years of revolutionary activity, of which nearly 02 years in the position of General Secretary of the Party, Comrade Hà Huy Tập excellently fulfilled many important responsibilities entrusted by the Party and the People in a historical period full of challenges and many complex upheavals. The Comrade is a shining example of the moral qualities of a communist soldier, dedicating his whole life to the revolutionary cause of our Party and nation.