Uncle Ho's image in the hearts of Russian people

President Ho Chi Minh and children (Photo taken in 1955).

This year, on May 19, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the statue of Uncle Ho in St. Petersburg, where 95 years ago President Ho Chi Minh first set foot on Russian soil, in Moscow, where President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked for more than 6 years in the 1920s and 1930s, where he outlined the strategic direction of the Vietnamese revolution, as well as in the city of Ulyanovsk on the banks of the Volga River. By the way, not only bronze but also gold was used to cast the 9-meter-high statue of Uncle Ho in this city. As planned, the fourth statue of President Ho Chi Minh on the territory of the Russian Federation will be erected in Vladivostok.

On the eve of his birthday on May 19, the exhibition "Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh with Vietnam - Russia friendship" opened in the center of Moscow near the Kremlin Palace. The set of artifacts displayed at the exhibition was sent to Russia by the Ho Chi Minh Relic Site in the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. At this exhibition, we met with Mr. Yevgeny Kobelev, Moscow historian, author of the book "Comrade Ho Chi Minh" which has been published many times in Moscow and Hanoi.

President Ho Chi Minh, - said Yevgeny Kobelev, - had great prestige among the people. But, unlike what happened in some socialist countries, high prestige did not lead to the cult of the leader turning into a cult of personality with its distortions and sins. The obstacle to that was the high moral qualities of President Ho Chi Minh. He was a true democrat, always opposed to dictatorial methods of leadership. Willpower and determination were organically combined with charity and kindness. He did not accept ideological fanaticism, a phenomenon that had caused serious damage to a number of ruling parties. Non-violent methods of struggle, according to possibilities, and compromises that took into account the interests not only of the majority but also of the minority - this view was in keeping with his style.

Despite the decades that have passed, President Ho Chi Minh remains a very modern figure. His works and the ideas he put forward are very much in line with what is now called new political thinking, - the Moscow scientist emphasized.

Honorary President of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association Evgeny Glazunov once met and worked with Uncle Ho. He recalled that President Ho Chi Minh was a charming person who liked to joke.

"Once in Hanoi, President Ho Chi Minh met with Soviet experts working in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam," Glazunov told Sputnik. One of them wanted to end his speech by wishing the President good health in Vietnamese. The Soviet expert tried very hard to memorize this sentence, but, unfortunately, he made a mistake in pronunciation. Instead of "Long live President Ho Chi Minh", he said "President Ho Chi Minh wants to lie down". All the Vietnamese participants in the meeting burst into laughter. President Ho Chi Minh stood up, went to the young expert and said in Russian: "No, no, we shouldn't end our meeting like that. President Ho Chi Minh doesn't want to lie down yet". This sentence made everyone who knew Russian laugh.