Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh with the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement

Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh was born on February 2, 1908, in a patriotic Confucian family in Diem Dien village, Ho Doi commune, Thuy Anh district (now Diem Dien town, Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province). His father was Mr. Nguyen Duc Tiet, a patriotic and outspoken man who passed the bachelor's exam in 1888 but did not become an official and returned to his hometown to teach. His mother was Mrs. Tran Thi Thuy, from Co Am village, Vinh Bao district, Hai Duong province. His family had 4 children: Nguyen Duc Phuc, Nguyen Thi Loc, Nguyen Duc Canh and Nguyen Thi Thua.

When Nguyen Duc Canh was 7 years old, his father passed away. Nguyen Duc Canh was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Dao Quan and Tran My (his father's classmate) and sent to school. Being an intelligent person, Nguyen Duc Canh was loved and respected by his friends.

After finishing primary school in Thai Binh, Nguyen Duc Canh went to study at Thanh Chung High School in Nam Dinh. Here, he became friends with progressive patriotic youths such as Nguyen Danh Doi, Dang Xuan Khu (Truong Chinh), Nguyen Van Nang, Dang Xuan Thieu... The group often learned about the anti-French activities of Phan Dinh Phung, Hoang Hoa Tham, Phan Boi Chau, and Phan Chu Trinh.

From late 1925 to early 1926, when the whole country rose up to demand the release of Phan Boi Chau and hold a memorial service for Phan Chu Trinh, in Nam Dinh, Nguyen Duc Canh and his schoolmates joined the strike in response. After the strike, Nguyen Duc Canh was expelled from school. Leaving school, he went to Hanoi to find a job, applying to be a secretary for a photo studio and a teacher, then working as a typesetter at Mac Dinh Tu printing house. During his time working there, Nguyen Duc Canh joined the "Nam Dong Thu Xa" group (the predecessor of the Vietnam Nationalist Party). In September 1927, Nguyen Duc Canh and Ly Hong Nhat were sent by the Nationalist Party to Guangzhou (China) to meet the "Youth" Headquarters.

In Guangzhou, Nguyen Duc Canh attended a political class of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association Headquarters, trained by comrade Ho Tung Mau. After a period of study, Nguyen Duc Canh and Ly Hong Nhat left the Kuomintang and joined the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association. This was a turning point in Nguyen Duc Canh's revolutionary life.

In February 1928, Nguyen Duc Canh was appointed by the Regional Committee of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association as Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Hai Phong. Later, he was appointed as a member of the Regional Committee's Executive Committee and Secretary of the Hai Phong Regional Committee (including Hai Phong, Kien An and the Quang Ninh mining area).

On June 17, 1929, at house number 312 Kham Thien Street (Hanoi), delegates of newly established communist organizations in Bac Ky decided to establish the Indochinese Communist Party. The conference elected a provisional Central Executive Committee with comrade Ngo Gia Tu as Secretary and comrade Nguyen Duc Canh as Member.

On July 28, 1929, implementing the Resolution of the Provisional Central Executive Committee on labor work, comrade Nguyen Duc Canh convened the Congress of workers' representatives from provinces in Bac Ky. The Congress set out new tasks for the workers' movement and established the Red General Confederation of Labor of Bac Ky, comrade Nguyen Duc Canh was elected as the provisional President.

In August 1929, the Hai Phong Indochinese Communist Party was established, with a provisional Party Committee consisting of three comrades appointed by superiors: Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh as Secretary, and Comrades Hoang Van Doai and Nguyen Huu Can as members. In December 1929, Nguyen Duc Canh convened the Conference of the Red General Labor Union of North Vietnam, decided to unify local General Labor Unions to the Regional Party Committee and elected an official Executive Committee.

In May 1930, comrade Nguyen Duc Canh was appointed by the Central Committee as Secretary of the Northern Regional Party Committee. At the end of October 1930, Nguyen Duc Canh was appointed by the Central Committee to join the Central Regional Party Committee in charge of propaganda work.

In Nghe An, Nguyen Duc Canh was arranged to work at the house of comrade Uong Nhat Vuong (now in Hung Loc commune, Vinh city) and stay at many houses, including the family of Mr. Nguyen Trong Ho in Yen Dung Thuong village (now in Hung Dung ward, Vinh city). After being assigned tasks by comrade Nguyen Phong Sac - Secretary of the Central Region Party Committee, Nguyen Duc Canh was appointed as a member of the Central Region Party Committee Standing Committee in charge of propaganda work. From here, Nguyen Duc Canh had new aliases "Trinh" and "Be con".

In September 1930, the revolutionary movement in Nghe An developed strongly with the birth of the Soviet government in districts such as Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Anh Son, Can Loc, Thach Ha... Panicked, the French colonialists carried out white terror against the revolutionary movement. Many local Party organizations lost contact and had to temporarily stop operating.

Faced with that situation, Nguyen Duc Canh and Nguyen Phong Sac discussed ways to open training classes to improve the qualifications of cadres, and at the same time, directed Party committees at all levels to coordinate with the fight against terrorism to maintain the Soviet movement. With a slim and agile figure, Nguyen Duc Canh did not fear hardship and danger, day and night rolling around with the movement to specifically and promptly direct the fight against the enemy's cunning tricks and protect the Soviet achievements.

From the end of 1930 to the beginning of 1931, the colonialists and feudalists of the Southern Dynasty, in addition to sending a series of experienced French secret agents in fighting communism to Nghe Tinh, also brought a series of new soldiers. In addition to the blue-clad soldiers, they also added foreign legionnaires, Turkish soldiers and red-clad soldiers. Besides, they also tried to build a dense system of military posts in the areas of the two provinces. By the beginning of 1931, Nghe An had 68 posts, Ha Tinh had 55 military posts, not to mention the dense network of gangs spread throughout the villages. To increase the deception, seduction of the people, distortion and attack of communism, in addition to the newspapers Nam Phong, Dong Phap, Ngo Bao, they also published a series of newspapers such as: Hoan Chau Tan Bao, Thanh - Nghe - Tinh Tan Van... to be widely distributed among the masses in order to shake the spirit of our people.

Faced with the enemy's plots and tricks, in order to smash the enemy's counter-revolutionary propaganda, the Central Region Party Committee and Party committees at all levels paid special attention to ideological work, regularly opened short-term training courses, printed many leaflets and documents to enlighten the masses about the revolution. Under difficult working conditions, printing and meetings had to be secret, mainly done in closed rooms or near the roof. During the day, comrades had to open the thatched roof to get light, and at night, when lighting lamps, they had to cover them so that the light could not escape to avoid enemy surveillance. Under such conditions, Nguyen Duc Canh still regularly wrote articles and was in charge of the Party Committee's newspapers, actively helping the Provincial and District Party Committees maintain and develop Party newspapers. It can be said that never before in Nghe Tinh had there been so many revolutionary newspapers as during the Nghe Tinh Soviet period. From the Regional Party Committee, Provincial Party Committee, to District Party Committee and Party Cell, all published newspapers. A notable feature of this period was that many types of Party newspapers and leaflets appeared regularly, promptly and abundantly to propagate and educate the masses to fight, while at the same time denouncing and condemning the crimes of feudal colonialism.

The Central Party Committee has the newspapers “The Laborer”, “Chi Gui”, “Vo Le”, “Tranh Dau”. The Nghe An Provincial Party Committee has the newspaper “Tien Len”. The Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee has the newspaper “Buoc Toi”. The District Party Committees: Hung Nguyen has the newspaper “San Nghiep”, Nam Dan has the newspaper “Giac Ngo”, Thanh Chuong has the newspaper “Nha Que”, Can Loc has the newspaper “Tu Cuu”, Thach Ha has the newspaper “Tieng Go”, Duc Tho has the newspaper “Co Dong”... The leaflets of the General Farmers’ Association, Women’s Association, and Trade Unions were distributed everywhere before and after the people’s struggles to launch and encourage the struggle movement. Through the press, the revolutionary movement leaflets were reflected in a realistic and vivid way, praising the heroic fighting spirit of the masses, clearly pointing out the responsibilities of the masses. From enlightenment, the masses became aware of their responsibilities, and everyone enthusiastically participated in the revolution.

It can be affirmed that the press during the Nghe Tinh Soviet period was a sharp weapon that contributed to the dissemination of news, guided the movement, equipped cadres and party members with theory, condemned the enemy's crimes and countered the enemy's distorted arguments. That was the result of the direction of the Regional Party Committee and Provincial Party Committee, in which comrade Nguyen Duc Canh played a great role. As the person in charge of propaganda work, Nguyen Duc Canh also wrote articles for many newspapers: Dong long tranh dau, Co Do, Tin tuc and was directly in charge of Lao Dong Newspaper and the Red Labor Association Magazine of the Northern Trade Union. Nguyen Duc Canh also guided printing techniques for printing staff of the Party Committees at all levels. During the time comrade Nguyen Phong Sac and comrade Le Mao went to Saigon to attend the Central Conference chaired by General Secretary Tran Phu, Nguyen Duc Canh, on behalf of the Regional Party Committee Secretary, oversaw all the big and small tasks of the Central Party Committee.

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Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh had made his mark in active revolutionary activities and made great contributions to the revolutionary movement in Nghe Tinh. Although still very young, Nguyen Duc Canh became a steadfast communist soldier, and together with his comrades in the Central Region Party Committee, fought fiercely against the enemy's savage acts of terrorism and cunning plots against the Party organization in Nghe Tinh.

No matter what position he held, Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh always stayed close to the area he was in charge of, went to revolutionary mass organizations, and wholeheartedly guided the methods of struggle. Especially during this time when the enemy was frantically terrorizing, spreading a dense network of secret agents, and giving information everywhere to hunt down revolutionary soldiers, Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh was still intelligent and brave, going in and out of the city, going to rural areas far from the city to survey and grasp the situation in order to maintain and rectify the movement. Thanks to that close direction, many secret Party bases were still safe.

On a night at the end of April 1931, comrade Nguyen Duc Canh was caught by the enemy in Yen Dung Ha village (now Ben Thuy ward, Vinh city). Nguyen Duc Canh was immediately transferred to Hoa Lo prison (Hanoi). During his time in the imperial prison, Nguyen Duc Canh continued to use his sharp pen to fight the enemy.

He wrote the work: "Family and Communism" which destroyed the enemy's argument that communists are people without families, or the book "Worker Movement" which clearly stated the characteristics of the Vietnamese working class, the content, methods of organizing, training and leading workers in the struggle... This is the first book systematically written about the Vietnamese workers' movement.

After more than a year of being arrested, on July 30, 1932, Nguyen Duc Canh was taken by the French colonial government to Song Lap prison - Hai Phong to carry out his sentence of beheading. Early in the morning of July 31, 1932, he died at the age of 24.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Canh set a shining example of steadfast stance, modesty, simple lifestyle and extraordinary willpower of a true communist, forever a shining example for generations to learn from and follow./.

References

1. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac with Nghe Tinh. Hanoi Publishing House, 2005.
2. https://congdoanhaiphong.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/danh-muc-trong/lich-su-va-cuoc-doi-dong-chi-nguyen-duc-canh-3665.html
3. History of Tien Hai District Party Committee (1916-2010), National Political Publishing House - Truth, 2011.
4. Nghe Tinh Soviet (1930-2000), Nghe An Publishing House, 2000.
5. Soviet Nghe Tinh, Nghe An Publishing House, 2000.