Solemn Memorial Ceremony for the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong

Offering incense and commemorating the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong were comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; comrades representing the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Department of Culture - Sports, Hung Nguyen district and representatives of the Le family in Hung Thong commune...

Scene of the memorial service for late General Secretary Le Hong Phong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Comrade Le Hong Phong's birth name was Le Huy Duc, later changed to Le Huy Doan, born in 1902 in Dong village, Thong Lang commune (now Hung Thong commune), Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An.

Le Huy Doan's father was Mr. Le Huy Quan. Mr. Le Huy Quan was an educated man, but his path to the imperial examinations was not fortunate. Le Huy Doan's mother was Mrs. Pham Thi Thu (often called Mrs. Sau). Mrs. Sau was from Hoa Nam commune, Nam Dan.

Mr. and Mrs. Le Huy Quan gave birth to 2 boys and 3 girls. Le Huy Doan was the fourth child. With his intelligence and eagerness to learn, when he was young, Le Huy Doan studied Chinese characters at the village school. Later, he studied Vietnamese and French and graduated from the Elementary School in Vinh.

In 1924, Le Huy Doan and like-minded people found their way to the Northeast of Thailand to carry out revolutionary activities. Le Huy Doan changed his name to Le Hong Phong. In Guangzhou, in April 1924, Le Hong Phong was admitted to Tam Tam Xa - an organization that gathered patriotic Vietnamese youth.

At the end of 1924, Le Hong Phong met leader Nguyen Ai Quoc, and from here, under his guidance and training, Le Hong Phong became an elite revolutionary cadre, a staunch international communist soldier. In February 1925, Nguyen Ai Quoc selected Le Hong Phong and a number of elite youths to form the Communist Youth League, which later became the core to establish the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association - the predecessor of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In December 1925, after graduating from Whampoa Military Academy, Le Hong Phong entered the Guangzhou Aviation School.

In October 1926, Le Hong Phong studied at the Air Force Military Theory School in Leningrad. In December 1927, Le Hong Phong transferred to study at the Military Pilot Training School No. 2 in the city of Borisglevsk. Then the Communist International decided to transfer comrade Le Hong Phong to long-term, systematic theoretical training at the University of the Orient. Here, comrade Le Hong Phong revealed the excellent, exemplary qualities of a communist, so on May 25, 1929, Le Hong Phong was admitted to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In March 1934, in Macau (China), comrade Le Hong Phong, together with comrades Ha Huy Tap and Nguyen Van Dut, discussed the plan to establish an external Party Command Committee to unify the leadership of Party organizations, and to reorganize the Party's Central Committee. At this conference, comrade Le Hong Phong was appointed Secretary of the external Party Command Committee.

In June 1934, comrade Le Hong Phong convened and chaired a conference of Party organization delegates from within the country to meet with the Party's overseas command committee. After this important meeting, at the call of the Communist International, the overseas command committee sent comrades Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Hoang Van Non to attend the 7th Congress of the Communist International in Moscow. At the congress, the delegation met with leader Nguyen Ai Quoc.

While the delegation was in Moscow, from March 27 to 31, 1935, in Macau (China), the First Congress of the Party was convened. The Congress elected comrade Le Hong Phong as General Secretary of the Party (General Secretary). The Congress also approved the overseas Command Committee to send a delegation of our Party to attend the 7th Congress of the Communist International and appointed additional comrades: Nguyen Ai Quoc (in Moscow), Pham Van Xo, and Nguyen Chanh Nhi to join the delegation.

At the 7th Congress of the Communist International, comrade Le Hong Phong was elected to the Presidium of the Congress, was elected by the Congress as an official member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International and had many active activities contributing to the success of the Congress.

After many years of revolutionary activities and important contributions to the Party, the country and the people, recognizing the key role of comrade Le Hong Phong in the patriotic and national liberation movement, on June 22, 1939, the French colonialists arrested comrade Le Hong Phong. He was sentenced by the Saigon Court to 6 months in prison, 3 years of house arrest, and then released to house arrest in his hometown. In 1940, comrade Le Hong Phong was arrested by the French colonialists for the second time in his hometown, then imprisoned in the Big Prison, Saigon and sentenced to 5 years in prison, exiled to Con Dao. In Con Dao, knowing that Le Hong Phong was an important figure of the Party, the French colonialists found every way to torture and brutally mistreat him. He still upheld his revolutionary spirit, did not confess a word, and at the same time actively mobilized and directed fellow prisoners to fight against the enemy's beatings and against the harsh prison rules.

Delegates attending the 80th anniversary of General Secretary Le Hong Phong's death. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Due to months of brutal torture, his health was exhausted. He breathed his last breath at noon on September 6, 1942. Before his death, he left a message: "Please report to the Party that, until the last moment, Le Hong Phong still believed wholeheartedly in the glorious victory of the revolution."

Forty years old, 20 years of continuous, heroic and enthusiastic revolutionary activities, comrade Le Hong Phong devoted his whole life to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He left behind a shining example of revolutionary ethics, love for family, homeland and country, sacrificing his whole life for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, the happiness of the People, being loyal to the Party, filial to the people, faithful to comrades and friends, always optimistic and confident in the victory of the revolution.

Delegates offered incense and flowers to commemorate the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In the sacred atmosphere, comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and delegates offered flowers and incense to the spirit of the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong; expressing their respect for his contributions and sacrifices to the revolutionary cause and the struggle for national liberation.

Hung Thong Commune - Hometown of the late General Secretary Le Hong Phong today. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Proud of their homeland's tradition, the Party Committee, government and people of Nghe An province and Hung Nguyen district pledge to always strive to achieve many important achievements in the fields of economy, culture, society, national defense, security, and to build their homeland to become increasingly prosperous.