Vũ Văn Mẫu

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Vũ, but is often simplified to Vu in English-language text. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Mẫu.
Vũ Văn Mẫu
Ngô Đình Diệm
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPhạm Đăng Lâm
Personal details
Born(1914-07-25)25 July 1914
Hanoi, Tonkin, French Indochina
Died20 August 1998(1998-08-20) (aged 84)
Paris, France
Political partyForces for National Reconciliation
Other political
affiliations		 National Social Democratic Front (Big tent affiliation)
SpouseHoàng Thị Nguyệt My
Children5
Alma materUniversity of Paris (BA; MA)
Faculté de droit de Paris (PhD)

Vũ Văn Mẫu (25 July 1914 – 20 August 1998) was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who was the last

Prime Minister of South Vietnam, serving under President Dương Văn Minh's leadership in 1975. He held the position for only two days before the collapse and surrender of South Vietnam on 30 April 1975
.

Early life and career

He was born on 25 July 1914 in

Saigon with his family and joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Saigon, where he became the Dean of the Faculty. He was recognized as an expert in civil and historical law. After several years as a professor he then became a local Saigon judge, rising through the ranks to become Judge of the Saigon Superior Court. During his legal career and even during retirement and exile, he authored a number of books, including one entitled Vietnamese Civil Law. [citation needed
]

Political career

After carrying out the

Republic of Vietnam
which Diệm proclaimed himself as president and invited Mẫu to hold the position of Foreign Minister of the Republic of Vietnam. He held this position for eight years, from 1955 to 1963. During the Buddhist crisis of 1963, he resigned on August 22, 1963, shaving his head like a monk in protest. He strongly opposed the fierce repressive measures of the Ngô Đình Diệm's government against Buddhism.[1] When he attempted to leave the Republic of Vietnam to join a pilgrimage to India, he was arrested and placed under house arrest. Mẫu was South Vietnam's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands in the mid- to late 1960s.[1] In the early 1970s, he was elected Senator of the Republic where he became a prominent national politician.

Prime Minister of
South Vietnam
(1975)

In 1975, he became Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam under President

National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. He had to join President Dương Văn Minh and Vice President Nguyễn Văn Huyền
in declaring their unconditional surrender to avoid further bloodshed.

Post-Fall of Saigon and exile

Like General Dương Văn Minh, he was a moderate, supporting the policy of handing over the government to the Liberation Army. Therefore, the Revolutionary government only implemented monitoring measures, not being strict with him. After the situation stabilized, Mẫu was allowed to leave the country to immigrate to France in 1988 and settled there for the rest of his life. He died on August 20, 1998, in Paris, aged 84.[1]

Personal life

Mẫu was married and had five children, whom all resided in France. His daughter, Vũ Thị Việt Hương, followed her father's profession in law, by obtaining a

Latin, and Chinese and was very highly regarded as a professor of law. His work is also cited by René David and John E.C. Brierley in the famous book on comparative law Major Legal Systems in the World Today.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Pace, Eric (14 September 1998). "u Van Mau, Last Premier Of South Vietnam, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
Political offices
Preceded by
Position established
 Minister Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam
1955–1963 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam

1975 		Succeeded by
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