Đồng Khánh

Who was Đồng Khánh?

Emperor Đồng Khánh, was the ninth emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned three years between 1885 and 1889, and was considered one of the most despised emperors of his era.

Đồng Khánh's birthname was Nguyễn Cảnh Tông. He was the son of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Cai, but because his uncle, Emperor Tự Đức, had no children, he was adopted and made the Duke of Kiên Giang. Đồng Khánh, however, did not succeed to the throne until four others, Dục Đức, Hiệp Hoà, Kiến Phúc and Hàm Nghi were all enthroned, and removed in the year after the death of Tự Đức.

Đồng Khánh came to the throne because of the events of 4 July 1885, when the regent, Tôn Thất Thuyết, kidnapped the young Emperor Hàm Nghi from the "Purple Forbidden City" of Huế, and took him to the mountains as the figurehead of a revolutionary movement against the French. To take away the legitimacy of Hàm Nghi, the French enthroned Nguyễn Cảnh Tông, who took the era name of "Đồng Khánh".

Madame Nhu, the First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955–63, was a great-granddaughter of Đồng Khánh.