To Huu

Who was To Huu?

Tố Hữu was Vietnam’s most famous revolutionary poet. He published five collections of poems, the first of which was the 1946 collection entitled Poem, which included many of his most popular and influential works that were written between 1937 to 1946.

Tố Hữu was born as Nguyễn Kim Thành in Phù Lai Village in central Vietnam, later taking on the pseudonym Tố Hữu, whose Sino-Vietnamese etymology is unknown. Around the age of 18, he was incarcerated by the French colonial authorities for his involvement with the communist movement. He escaped from Dac Lay prison in 1942 and rejoined the communist underground.

Tố Hữu moved quickly and successfully through what became the Communist Party of Vietnam. During the pre-unification period Tố Hữu was most influential in setting cultural policy in North Vietnam, especially in deciding the bounds of what was permissible for intellectuals and artists to publish and perform during this tightly controlled period. His control of intellectual and artistic production was matched only by Trường Chinh and Hồ Chí Minh himself.

He continued to hold many important party and government posts, including member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and the same post that was later renamed Deputy Prime Minister.