Scholar Phan Ngoc passed away
(Baonghean.vn) - Scholar Phan Ngoc, born in 1925, is considered the last encyclopedist of the generation of Vietnamese intellectuals remaining from the French colonial period, and is a "teacher of teachers" in the field of language.
Culturalist Phan Ngoc passed away last night (August 26).
He was originally from Nhan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province. He was brought to Viet Bac to work by Professor Dao Duy Anh in 1950, then brought to Hanoi Pedagogical University and Hanoi University of Science by Professor Tran Duc Thao in 1955.
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| Phan Ngoc Cultural House. |
From 1980, he worked at the Southeast Asia Institute until his retirement.
Linguist Phan Ngoc was the person who knew the most foreign languages in Vietnam in the 20th century, being fluent in 5 foreign languages: Latin, Chinese, French, English, and Italian. In addition, he was also able to fluently use Russian, German, Japanese, Thai, and Cambodian. Linguist Phan Ngoc believed: “Among many languages, learners should choose a few foreign languages that are popular in the world to be able to communicate widely. These languages must be learned carefully before moving on to learn other languages.”
He once translated Hegel's Philosophy from German into Vietnamese. Besides, he also translated War and Peace from the original Russian (co-translated with Cao Xuan Huy, Cao Xuan Hao and Thieu Son); Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, Du Fu's Poetry... from the original Chinese; Shakespeare from the original English. He also published an English-Vietnamese Dictionary of more than 100,000 words and then compiled a Vietnamese-English Dictionary with the same number of words.
He is also the author of many research works. His work “Studying Nguyen Du’s style in The Tale of Kieu and Vietnamese Culture – a new approach” was awarded the State Prize in the first round in 2001. He also has other research works such as: Vietnamese Cultural Identity, Vietnamese Culture in Contact with France, Perception of Vietnamese Culture, Poetry of Saint Du Fu and a Thousand Poems…
Linguist Phan Ngoc is considered the "teacher of teachers" in the field of language.
About him, Associate Professor - Doctor Do Lai Thuy once wrote: “Phan Ngoc is a scientist and a thinker. And perhaps, he wants to become a thinker more, even a theorist... Phan Ngoc is someone who wants to assemble (or assimilate) the scientific achievements of the West and Eastern philosophy, mainly Confucianism and Marxism”.
