Comrade Tran Thi Lien (1910 - 1991)

Her father, Mr. Tran Khac Am, after graduating from primary school, worked as a surveyor and participated in the construction of National Highways 7 and 9 leading to Laos; her mother ran a small business at Vinh market. The family was well-off enough to raise five children (two girls and three boys) and provide them with a proper education. As the eldest daughter, she was still able to complete primary school (Nguyen Truong To Primary School - a school exclusively for girls). She was very capable in managing household chores when her parents were away. In 1927, the Hung Nam organization flourished, and she, along with students from schools such as Cao Xuan Duc, Nguyen Tuong To, and Quoc Hoc Vinh, actively participated in the movement demanding amnesty for Phan Boi Chau and mourning the death of Phan Chu Trinh.

Ms. Lien often helped her mother look after the goods being sold at Vinh Market. There, she met Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan. Because they were the same age and often helped their mother with the goods at the market, the three easily became close friends. Gradually, Ms. Minh Khai enlightened her and recruited her into the Tan Viet Party. She participated in the women's group with Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan, organized by Ms. Minh Khai.

During this time, while participating in the Tan Viet organization, she met...Tran Van Cung(He was the younger brother of teacher Tran Van Tang, who taught my sister's younger brother in 1922 at Cao Xuan Duc School). At this time, Tran Van Cung had just returned from attending a training course organized by Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc in Guangzhou (China). Upon returning to Vinh, Tran Van Cung and other comrades established the first branch of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League (VNTNCMĐCH). The couple held an engagement ceremony.

In the summer of 1928, Mr. Tran Van Cung returned to Vietnam. The two held a wedding ceremony. On their wedding day, Ms. Minh Khai and Ms. Nhuan attended, and their gift was just a bouquet of fresh flowers tied with a red ribbon, and Ms. Minh Khai had written the following inscription:genuine revolutionThis was significant because at that time, Mr. Cung belonged to the Youth Organization, while the two women belonged to Tan Viet, and there were unresolved issues between the two organizations. In August 1928, Ms. Lien and her husband went to Hanoi to do business, but in reality, Comrade Tran Van Cung was assigned to Hanoi by the Youth Organization for work. At the end of 1928, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League rented house number 5D (Ham Long Street, Hanoi) as a secret headquarters and entrusted Ms. Lien and her husband with its care. House 5D was a single-story brick house, bordered on one side by houses 5C, 5B, and 5A in the same row, all with similar architecture; on the other side, it bordered an alley with a passage leading to the back, onto Le Van Huu Street. In case of trouble, those inside could slip out through the back, climb over a wall, and escape through this alley.

The couple, with just two bags of clothes, went to Hanoi. The organization provided them with some necessary supplies. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac had to bring extra tables and chairs from his house to set up the appearance of a normal family and also bought some pots and pans for cooking. Lien (whose name at this time was Yen) took care of the cooking and guarding for the cadres who came to work there, such as Ngo Gia Tu, Nguyen Phong Sac, Trinh Dinh Cuu, Do Ngoc Du... Playing the role of a gentle, simple girl from Central Vietnam who followed her husband to Hanoi for work, diligently managing the household, no one suspected anything. Here, Lien met Mai Thi Vu Trang, a female revolutionary cadre active in the workers' movement in the Quang Ninh and Hai Phong mining regions. She greatly admired Trang – a young, unmarried woman who was very enthusiastic in her revolutionary activities and had once single-handedly carried a gun from Hai Phong to Nghe Tinh for the revolution.

In Hanoi, due to work, her husband often traveled for business, sometimes to Son Tay, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, etc. She alone looked after the house and welcomed comrades from other places. In September 1928, the Northern Vietnam Youth Committee was established, and Comrade Tran Van Cung was appointed Secretary. The Committee advocated "proletarianization" to promote the dissemination of Marxist-Leninist ideology among workers and to train cadres. Comrades such as Nguyen Duc Canh and Mai Thi Vu Trang were sent to build bases in Hai Phong and Nam Dinh.

In March 1929, the first Communist Party cell was established at 5D Ham Long Street, and her husband was appointed as the cell secretary. Ms. Tran Thi Lien vividly remembers that on an evening in mid-March, comrades Ngo Gia Tu, Trinh Dinh Cuu, Nguyen Duc Canh, Nguyen Phong Sac... came to meet at "her house," and after the meeting, everyone left in high spirits.

In May 1929, Tran Van Cung was appointed head of the delegation from the Northern Region (Ngo Gia Tu, Nguyen Tuan, Duong Hac Dinh) to attend the Youth Congress in Hong Kong.

After the Indochinese Communist Party was founded (June 17, 1929), the Provisional Central Executive Committee sent comrades Tran Van Cung and Nguyen Phong Sac to build a Party base in Central Vietnam. Lien packed her bags and followed her husband back to Vinh. At this time, she had already been admitted to the Indochinese Communist Party in Northern Vietnam by comrade Ngo Gia Tu.

Comrades Nguyen Phong Sac and Tran Van Cung went to Nghe An to meet Comrade Vo Mai and establish the Central Indochina Communist Party's Central Committee, with Nguyen Phong Sac as Secretary. The committee's base was then located in Vang village, Vinh city, and Lien and her husband took over the care of this house. Lien had the added advantage of being close to her parents' home, receiving much support in all aspects. The village was sparsely populated, densely forested, and on the outskirts of Vinh city, so few people paid attention. After a short time, the Regional Committee moved to the De Nhat canal, Co Dau street (now the area to the left of the Vietnam-Germany Children's Cultural Center, Vinh city). And when Comrade Tran Van Cung was arrested, the Regional Committee had to move to his house.Le Doan Suuon the Tenth Street.

Following the distribution of leaflets by the Indochinese Communist Party in Nghe An calling on the masses to commemorate the International Day Against Imperialist War (August 1, 1929), her husband was arrested. Comrade Tran Van Cung's name had long been on the French secret police's special watchlist, so this time they had evidence to arrest him.

On October 14, 1929, Comrade Tran Van Cung was sentenced to death by the Southern Court of Nghe An Province along with Comrades Ngo Thiem and Vuong Thuc Oanh, and Nguyen Ai Quoc, Ho Tung Mau, Le Duy Diem, and Tran Phu were also sentenced to death in absentia. Later, the court retried the case and reduced Tran Van Cung's sentence to life imprisonment with hard labor in Guy Am, initially transferring him to Lao Bao prison.

On the day the Southern Court tried the members of the Tan Viet and Thanh Nien parties, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan were present. When the court announced the death sentences for Nguyen Van Loi, Nguyen Sy Sach, and Tran Van Cung, Ms. Lien fainted, and the women had to give her first aid.

On the way home, Ms. Nhuận was worried and said to Ms. Minh Khai:If Cung gets shot, Lien will probably lose heart of the revolution.Ms. Minh Khai replied confidently:"No way! If that were the case, Lien would surely be even more enthusiastic. How could she possibly lose heart when faced with such a vengeance for her family and country?"That's absolutely true.

At 4:00 AM on December 4, 1929, a group of political prisoners, including Tran Van Cung, Nguyen Sy Sach, Nguyen Ngoc Tuyet, Nguyen Loi, and Vuong Thuc Oanh, boarded a train to Quang Tri. Thirty political prisoners, their hands and feet shackled, were escorted onto the train at Vinh station. From 2:00 AM, in the drizzling rain, Ms. Lien and her family waited at the station with gifts, food, and clothes, but the guards wouldn't allow the prisoners to receive them. Fortunately, Ms. Loi, a relative of Mr. Tuyet, cleverly disguised herself as a trader and boarded the train. Along the way, she chatted with the prisoners and eventually managed to deliver the gifts to them.

After her husband was arrested and exiled to Lao Bao, Ms. Lien remained and participated in the women's movement in Vinh City. The Women's Liberation Association was established at the end of 1930 by Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan and Ms. Nguyen Thi Due under the direction of Comrade Le Doan Suu (Secretary of the Vinh City Party Committee).

In late 1931, she was arrested and the Southern Court of Nghe An Province sentenced her to one year in prison and nine months of house arrest (according to Judgment No. 28 dated January 18, 1932). During her imprisonment in Vinh prison, she was unable to breastfeed her daughter due to lack of milk.

Released in August 1932, Tran Thi Lien became actively involved in the Women's Liberation Association. This organization flourished, attracting female factory workers and small business owners who helped other women in times of difficulty or donated clothes to political prisoners in Vinh prison whose clothing had been confiscated by the enemy.

In April 1933, Ms. Lien requested permission to visit her husband in Lao Bao. Accompanying her was Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, the wife of Comrade Nguyen Sy Sach. Comrade Sach had bravely sacrificed his life during the hunger strike in Lao Bao on December 19, 1929. Ms. Hong obtained permission from the French Resident's Office in Hue to exhume her husband's remains and bring them back to their hometown. However, upon arriving in Quang Tri, the French Resident refused, intending to leave Comrade Sach's grave there as a deterrent to political prisoners in Lao Bao.

After returning from visiting her husband, Lien actively participated in the revolutionary movement. Disguised as a textile trader, she traveled throughout Anh Son, Phu Quy, and other areas to carry out revolutionary activities. On October 18, 1935, she was arrested in Phu Quy while distributing leaflets. On April 1, 1936, the Southern Court of Nghe An Province sentenced her to two years of imprisonment and two years of house arrest (according to Judgment No. 35).

In 1936, the amnesty movement in both the colonies and the mother country intensified, and the French Popular Front came to power, forcing the French colonial authorities in Indochina to release political prisoners. On July 15, 1936, Ms. Lien was released. Around this time, Comrade Tran Van Cung was also freed from Lao Bao prison. Ms. Lien went to Quang Tri to meet her husband, and the two moved to Nha Trang to live and carry out revolutionary activities.

In April 1938, the couple returned to Vinh and stayed at her parents' house in Vang village. At this time, her younger brother, Tran Khac Ho, had just been released from Buon Ma Thuot prison. Comrade Tran Khac Ho was involved in revolutionary activities in Khanh Hoa and was sentenced to 9 years of hard labor by the Southern Court of Khanh Hoa province (according to judgment No. 48 dated October 8, 1931). While in Buon Ma Thuot prison, Comrade Tran Khac Ho actively propagated revolutionary ideas, so the court increased his sentence by another 3 years (judgment No. 25 dated July 29, 1932, of the Dak Lak Provincial Court).

In Vinh during the height of the people's struggle for democracy and livelihood, Ms. Lien actively participated in the women's organization. Along with Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuan, Ms. Phan Thi Hao, Ms. Dinh Thi Can, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan (wife of Comrade Nguyen Viet Luc)... among 40 people, she contributed capital to build the "Women's Tailor Shop" in Vinh City. The shop's leadership consisted of 7 people, with Ms. Ngo Thi Hien as Chairperson. The shop was essentially a women's garment cooperative with its own charter and objectives: to organize collective sewing to ensure the material well-being of its members and to provide apprenticeship training for all those without a profession. This tailor shop served as a liaison base for the Party and had the economic means to support the revolution.

Once again, Lien's name appeared on the blacklist of the French secret police when she and others attended the funeral of a comrade on August 27, 1939.Super Sea- Secretary of the Vinh City Party Committee.

Following the August Revolution of 1945, from October 1946 to April 1949, Ms. Tran Thi Lien was a member of the Executive Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Women's Association. From April 1949 to October 1954, she was the President of the Nghe An Provincial Women's Association.

To facilitate her husband, Comrade Tran Van Cung, in his work at the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, in May 1955, Ms. Lien transferred to the Social Affairs Department of the Central Union. In 1964, she became an official at the Central Supreme Court.

Comrade Tran Thi Lien passed away on April 7, 1991, at the age of 81.

For her many contributions to the defense and development of the country, Comrade Tran Thi Lien was awarded the Third-Class Independence Order by the State.