Comrade Phan Viet Chieu - Secretary of Nghi Xuan District Party Committee - Ha Tinh in Nghe Tinh Soviet

Co Dam is a coastal village in Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province. This place is considered the cradle of the unique art of Ca Tru.Co Dam zither, Ky Anh clapper - sending and receiving the whole love, faithful and loyal"and traditional pottery making. The people of Co Dam have a long tradition of patriotism and revolutionary struggle. Every time the country is threatened by invasion, generations of Co Dam people rise up to take up arms to protect national sovereignty.

Comrade Phan Viet Chieu (alias Linh Dai, Ba, Thoat Nhu, Phong...) was born on January 2, 1905 in Hoa Van Hai village, Co Dam commune, now Co Dam commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province. His parents were Mr. Phan Cong Chinh and Mrs. To Thi Quan. He and his wife were also awarded the Certificate of Merit by the State. Comrade Phan Viet Chieu's younger brother, Phan Viet Bieu, a martyr in 1930 - 1931, was posthumously awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Fatherland.

As a child, comrade Phan Viet Chieu was often told by his father about his participation in the anti-French movement of Phan Dinh Phung, the story of the enthusiastic and passionate people of Co Dam village standing up to fight against high taxes and duties, and seeing the people and relatives in his family suffering a lot because of the French colonialists, comrade Phan Viet Chieu always nurtured the will to hate the enemy. Growing up, comrade Phan Viet Chieu taught children in the village, often interacted with Confucian scholars and teachers in Co Dam, so he soon absorbed progressive books and newspapers, revolutionary poetry.

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In October 1925, under the direction of comrade Ha Huy Tap, comrades Ngo Huu Yen (from Hue, a teacher at Co Dam school), Pham Huy Quan (from Huong Son), Ho Van Ninh (from Duc Tho, a teacher at Cuong Gian school), and Phan Viet Chieu organized a speech at Phu Lap school (Co Dam school), to speak up about the suffering and humiliation of losing the country, calling for the spirit of independence, self-reliance, and rising up against high taxes and duties..., mobilizing teachers, parents, and some sympathetic local people and gentry in neighboring communes.

In July 1927, during a professional training class for teachers at the General School in Ha Tinh, comrades Ho Van Ninh and Ho Huu Yen were invited to attend a meeting and were admitted to the Tan Viet Party in Ha Tinh. At the same time, they were assigned by the organization to Nghi Xuan to continue teaching and find ways to build the movement.

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In Nghi Xuan, in just a short time, the comrades gathered a number of teachers with progressive thoughts such as comrades Phan Viet Chieu, Tran Sy Co, Tran Van Hoanh, Le Phung Hich, Tran Thu But and a number of sympathetic local leaders in the communes of Cuong Gian, Cam Lam, and Phu Lap to join the association of patriots of Nghi Xuan district.

At the end of 1927, comrade Nguyen Tri Tu, a teacher at the French-Vietnamese School, belonging to the Tan Viet Headquarters in Ha Tinh, was sent to Nghi Xuan to establish contact with comrades Ngo Huu Yen, Ho Van Ninh, Tran Manh Tao, Phan Viet Chieu, and organized a conference at Hoa Van Hai communal house to discuss the program of activities, consolidate the revolutionary organization, and decided to establish the first Tan Viet group in Nghi Xuan with comrade Ngo Huu Yen as the group leader. Later, at Mieu Nam (Phu Lap), comrade Phan Viet Chieu was admitted to the Tan Viet Party in Nghi Xuan district by comrade Ngo Huu Yen.

Only a short time later, in January 1928, the number of Tan Viet Party members in Nghi Xuan increased to 15, including 5 members from Co Dam: Phan Viet Chieu, Tran Sy Co, Tran Van Hoanh, Nguyen Khoi, Phan Thuc Tao. Tan Viet's activities in Nghi Xuan at this time were mainly to build bases, recruit Party members, mobilize to eliminate superstition, and enlighten the people's patriotism. The influence of Tan Viet Nghi Xuan group grew more and more. To expand the scale and build finances for the Party, Tan Viet Nghi Xuan group organized for comrades Phan Viet Chieu, Tran Thu But, and Le Phung Hich to take turns learning mat weaving and fabric weaving in the province to return and teach them to the members.

At the end of 1928, comrade Le Duy Diem (Xuan Vien commune - Nghi Xuan) returned to Van Hai village to propagate and mobilize some young people and sent comrades Ho Van Ninh and Phan Viet Chieu to study in China. But at that time, the French colonialists prevented the two comrades from going. Also during this time, the Tan Viet headquarters in Vinh sent comrade Nguyen Thi Kim (Nghe An) to Nghi Xuan to coordinate with comrade Ngo Huu Yen to expand and consolidate the Tan Viet organization here.

In June 1929, at Hoa Van Hai communal house (Co Dam), under the chairmanship of comrade Ngo Huu Yen, the Tan Viet Nghi Xuan organization gathered all members and declared its complete transformation into the Indochinese Communist Party, including comrades: Ho Van Ninh, Ngo Huu Yen, Phan Viet Chieu, Tran Ba ​​Don, Tran Thi Chien, Tran Manh Tao, Nguyen Thi Kim.

After the successful establishment conference of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Ha Tinh province in March 1930, comrade Tran Huu Thieu - provisional Secretary of the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee went to Nghi Xuan to work and establish contact with advanced party members in the Tan Viet Great Organization. In April 1930, at the house of teacher Ngo Huu Yen in Phu Lap (Co Dam commune), the conference to establish the first Communist Party cell in Nghi Xuan took place under the chairmanship of the Provincial Party Secretary and admitted the first five party members of the Nghi Xuan cell: Ho Van Ninh, Ngo Huu Yen, Phan Viet Chieu, Tran Manh Tao, Nguyen Thi Kim. At the same time, comrade Ngo Huu Yen was appointed as Secretary. Immediately after that, the provisional District Party Committee was also established.

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At night, comrade Phan Viet Chieu went to plant flags on the communal houses of Tien Dien, Phan Xa, Van Hai, and Com mountain and distributed leaflets in the markets and houses of the village's powerful men.

Implementing the Provincial Party Committee's policy on organizing the International Labor Day celebration (May 1), the District Party Committee prepared the organization work very urgently and assigned specific tasks to each person. Comrade Phan Viet Chieu and comrades Tran Manh Tao, Ngo Huu Yen... focused on printing leaflets and sewing Party flags for many days without rest. The leaflets were printed on both sides, one side in Nom script, the other side in Quoc Ngu script with the following content:Down with French imperialism; Overthrow capitalists and landlords; Fight against high taxes and exploitation; Do not beat workers or mistreat farmers.… On the morning of May 1, 1930, the red hammer and sickle flag flew proudly on Com mountain (Xuan An), on the roof of the church in front of the district gate, white leaflets were everywhere on the streets...

After this leaflet distribution incident, comrade Ngo Huu Yen was arrested by the French secret police at Phu Lap School. Comrade Ho Van Ninh was suspected by them, so they transferred him to teach at Lac Thien School (Duc Tho). The organization's printing office in Co Dam was also exposed, so it had to move to comrade Tran Manh Tao's house in Dan Pho and set up a liaison station in Xuan An.

After the demonstration on May 1, 1930, although strictly controlled by the enemy, the Party organization in Co Dam still had rapid growth in numbers, national language learning sessions, rallies to disseminate policies and guidelines took place regularly. In early May 1930, the Van Hai Party Cell was established with 5 people, with comrade Phan Viet Chieu as Secretary. This was the earliest commune-level Party cell established in Nghi Xuan district. Comrade Phan Viet Chieu actively campaigned, developed the organization, and disseminated action plans in all communes in the district. Mass organizations such as the Red Farmers' Association, Red Self-Defense, Women's Association, and Youth Association in Co Dam were also established later.

On the occasion of the International Day against Imperialist War (August 1) and in response to the struggle movement of Ben Thuy workers (Nghe An), on the evening of August 1, 1930, under the direction of comrade Phan Viet Chieu, the people of Co Dam beat drums and gongs and marched to Bai Rong (Co Dam) to coordinate with the communes of Phan Xa, Xuan Vien... to attend a rally and shout slogans: Down with French colonialism and the feudal Southern Dynasty, return land to the farmers... After that, the masses marched to Co Dam village to demonstrate their power and demonstrate their strength. This was the demonstration that opened the climax of the struggle of the people of Nghi Xuan in general and the people of Co Dam in particular.

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In October 1930, the Nghi Xuan District Party Congress was officially held. Comrade Phan Viet Chieu was elected as Secretary of the District Party Committee. Under the direction of the District Party Committee and comrade Phan Viet Chieu, demonstrations by the people of Co Dam and the masses in the surrounding areas of Nghi Xuan continued to take place, severely punishing a number of local officials who were acting as lackeys for the enemy, making them extremely afraid.

At the end of 1930, comrade Phan Viet Chieu, with an enthusiastic spirit, overcame all difficulties and went to villages and communes in the district to mobilize and call on the masses to fight, recruit many new party members to build a base, and become the core of the movement.

In December 1930, comrade Phan Viet Chieu returned to Dan Truong and Hoi Thong communes to build a base, but was surrounded and arrested by secret police and imprisoned in Ha Tinh prison, and exiled to many prisons in Buon Ma Thuot and Dak Lak. In the face of the enemy's brutal torture, comrade Phan Viet Chieu was not the least bit afraid or shaken, always steadfast, determined, and steadfast in his stance, standing up to fight against the harsh prison regime, participating in the struggle in prison in many forms such as submitting petitions and demands, and continuously striking.

In 1937, comrade Phan Viet Chieu was released from prison. Returning to his hometown, he continued to teach and actively participated in revolutionary activities, mobilizing the masses to participate in the struggle for power and social work in his hometown later on.

Due to old age and poor health, he passed away on May 7, 1996, at the age of 91. The name and active revolutionary life of comrade Phan Viet Chieu have been recognized by history and the people here, contributing to the glorious achievements of his hometown and the Party Committee of Co Dam commune, Nghi Xuan district in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement.

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References:

- History of Nghi Xuan District Party Committee (1930 - 1945), published in 2000.

- History of the Party Committee and people of Xuan Hoi commune (1930-2005), published in 2005.

- Profile of historical and cultural relic of Thanh Mau Temple (Xuan Yen commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province).

- Profile of historical and cultural relic of Hoa Van Hai communal house (Co Dam commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province).

- Memoirs of comrade Phan Viet Chieu and Tran Manh Tao kept at the archives of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum.