Uncle Ho in the eyes of foreign journalists.

President Ho Chi Minh planting a banyan tree beside the tomb of leader Mahatma Gandhi (India). (Archival photo)

Ho Chi Minh in the eyes of a Soviet journalist.

In June 1923, President Ho Chi Minh set foot in the land of VI Lenin for the first time. In October 1923, as a representative of the French Communist Party, he attended the First Congress of the International Peasant Union, organized by the Communist International in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. At the congress, he was elected to the Presidium of the International Peasant Union, which consisted of 11 members.

Following this event, Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), a reporter for the magazine "Little Flame" (Ogoniok), was assigned by the editorial office to interview President Ho Chi Minh. The result of this interview was the article "Visiting a Communist International Fighter - Nguyen Ai Quoc," published in issue 39 of "Little Flame" on December 23, 1923.⁽¹⁾.

The magazine "Little Flame" was founded in 1923 in the Soviet Union and has its headquarters in Moscow. This weekly magazine specializes in articles about unique figures or those of public interest. Osip Mandelstam, in addition to being a journalist, was also a renowned writer and poet of the Soviet Union.

The article "Visiting a Communist International fighter - Nguyen Ai Quoc" was published in the magazine "Little Flame" issue 39, dated December 23, 1923. Photo: Historical archives.

Osip Mandelstam, a reporter for the magazine "Little Flame," was very impressed with President Ho Chi Minh. He distilled these impressions and included them in his article: "Nguyen Ai Quoc is currently the only Annamese person in Moscow… He is a thin, agile young man, wearing a knitted sweater… Nguyen Ai Quoc… is radiating something truly polite and delicate. From Nguyen Ai Quoc emanates a kind of culture, not European culture, but perhaps a culture of the future… Through his noble demeanor, in his warm, deep voice, we seem to hear tomorrow, to see the vast tranquility of universal brotherhood."

Ho Chi Minh Square and Monument in Moscow, Russia, is located at the intersection of Dmitri Ulianov Street and "Sixty Years of the October Revolution" Street.

"From Nguyen Ai Quoc emanated a kind of culture, not European culture, but perhaps a culture of the future… Through his noble demeanor and warm, deep voice, we seem to hear tomorrow, to see the vast tranquility of universal brotherhood."

Ho Chi Minh in the eyes of the French press.

Immediately after Vietnam gained independence, the weekly newspaper "This Paris," in its June 18, 1946 issue, published an article about President Ho Chi Minh's simplicity. "His extremely simple lifestyle," the article stated, was his most evident virtue. The article cited numerous examples to support this assertion. For instance, President Ho Chi Minh wore only one khaki suit year-round and refused to change into more formal attire because, according to him, many Vietnamese people still lacked adequate clothing in the cold. On ordinary days, when President Ho Chi Minh ate at the Presidential Palace in Northern Vietnam, he sat with everyone, from ministers to servants.

Thanks to his simplicity, meals were always intimate and joyful, giving them a family feel. President Ho Chi Minh's simplicity was also evident in his speeches and articles. He never tried to appear intellectual. On the contrary, he used simple, colloquial language that even the most unsophisticated person could understand immediately.

Speaking about his feelings for President Ho Chi Minh, French historian Alain Ruscio shared: “This is not like worshipping an unattainable god or saint. My respect and admiration for Uncle Ho is like that of children for their beloved father, having witnessed his life and struggles; from that, he became my inspiration.” Alain Ruscio was also a former reporter for the French Communist Party's newspaper, “L'Humanité.”

Ho Chi Minh in the eyes of the Indian press.

The story about "President Ho Chi Minh's sandals," which speaks of President Ho Chi Minh's simplicity, was published in newspapers in India and other countries when he visited the country in February 1958.

Upon arriving in New Delhi, President Ho Chi Minh visited the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial – dedicated to the great leader of India. As soon as he took off his sandals to enter the memorial, hundreds of Indian and international journalists bent down to touch the straps, taking pictures from various angles, documenting his footwear. They admired his simplicity, knowing that "Uncle Ho's sandals" were made from military car tires belonging to the French colonialists, which had been captured by our troops in Viet Bac in 1947.

Their admiration grew even stronger when they learned that President Ho Chi Minh often wore those same sandals during marches, visits to the people, and when receiving domestic or international guests.

President Ho Chi Minh during the signing of the Joint Declaration between North Korea and Vietnam by Prime Minister Kim Il Sung and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong in December 1958. He was wearing "Uncle Ho's sandals" and a khaki suit. (Historical archival photo)

Uncle Ho in the eyes of two Japanese journalists.

In an article published in the Akahata newspaper (the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party) on September 5, 1969, journalists Haramada Satomi and Yonehara Itaru also mentioned President Ho Chi Minh's simplicity: “During our visit to Vietnam in 1964, President Ho Chi Minh told us: ‘Please come visit me anytime.’ This was a simple, small wooden stilt house, like the houses of low-ranking workers and officials in Tokyo. There was a bell on the staircase. Visitors would ring the bell beforehand. President Ho Chi Minh made this bell himself. He showed it to us and said: ‘It’s very convenient, comrades!’”

President Ho Chi Minh's clothes resembled those worn by Vietnamese farmers. It seems President Ho Chi Minh owned no other clothes besides those. He wore sandals without socks. These were rubber sandals cut from car tires. He wore these sandals during the time he had to climb mountains and cross streams to fight against French colonialism, and they have now become famously known as "Uncle Ho's sandals."

Surprisingly, when attending the Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties in snowy Moscow, dressed in such attire, he still walked into the Kremlin in his proper rubber sandals, completely like a simple, honest Vietnamese farmer… These things truly made me understand why President Ho Chi Minh was respected, trusted, and loved unconditionally by more than 30 million Vietnamese people in both the North and South.”

Ho Chi Minh in the eyes of the American press.

Other American newspapers also mentioned the victory at Dien Bien Phu (May 7, 1954) in connection with President Ho Chi Minh. The New York Times (USA), in its May 9, 1954 issue, assessed that: "Today, no name in Asia is as famous as the veteran communist and nationalist Ho Chi Minh."

This image of President Ho Chi Minh appeared on the cover of Time magazine on November 22, 1954. The photo was published after Vietnam's victory at Dien Bien Phu.

The November 22, 1954 issue of Time magazine (USA) featured a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh on its cover and dedicated five pages to his life and career, along with Vietnam's victory over France in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. The magazine emphasized: "With this victory, Ho Chi Minh's prestige reached new heights in Asia. Nationalists in many countries... took pride in the triumph of an Asian army defeating those who had once been their 'masters' from Europe."

American journalist Harrison S. Salisbury, after meeting President Ho Chi Minh in 1967, wrote: "He lived simply and austerely in a small, unpretentious annex behind the former governor-general's palace in Hanoi, very courteous when drinking tea with guests, giving a rose to female guests, and telling a humorous joke to male guests."

American journalist David Halberstam, in his book about President Ho Chi Minh published by McGraw-Hill in New York in 1971, also highly praised his simplicity. The author wrote that Ho Chi Minh was a polite, humble, and gentle Vietnamese man who disregarded status and always wore the simplest clothes. However, his style was ridiculed by Western authorities for its lack of formality, absence of uniforms, and lack of fashion. It was only one day that they realized that it was precisely this simplicity, this reverence for simplicity, and this ability to blend in with the people that formed the basis of his success on his revolutionary path.

Ho Chi Minh in the eyes of the pressCzechoslovakia

Admiring President Ho Chi Minh's pure and noble international spirit, the Czechoslovakian newspaper "Red Rights" published an article on September 9, 1969, about his historic Last Will and Testament, emphasizing: "Uncle Ho, along with his Last Will and Testament, belongs to all communist, workers', and revolutionary movements in the world. He is listed among those whose life and work transcended the borders of his homeland."

(1) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, Volume 1, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, pp. 460-464