Nguyen Thi Dinh

Who was Nguyen Thi Dinh?

Madame Nguyễn Thị Định was a Vietnamese communist during the Vietnam War.

She was born from a peasant family in Bến Tre Province, and fought with the Viet Minh forces against the French. She was arrested and incarcerated by the French colonial authority between 1940–43, and helped lead an insurrection in Bến Tre in 1945, and again in 1960. She was a founding member of the National Liberation Front. In 1965 she was elected chairwoman of the South Vietnam Women's Liberation Association.

After the Vietnam War and the reunification of Vietnam, Madame Định served on the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party and also became the first female major general to serve in the Vietnam People's Army. She was also one of the Deputy Chairmen of the Council of State from 1987 until her death. Together with Madame Nguyễn Thị Bình, she is one of the two most prominent female Vietnamese communist leaders. She was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1967. In 1995, she was President posthumously awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces.