Huỳnh Thúc Kháng
Huỳnh Thúc Kháng (October 1, 1876 – April 21, 1947) was a Vietnamese anti-colonial activist, journalist and statesman. He is also known as Cụ Huỳnh; his courtesy name was Giới Sanh and his pen name Minh Viên. He was born in Tiên Phước, Quảng Nam.
He helped lead the Duy Tân reform movement with Phan Châu Trinh and Trần Quý Cáp and was imprisoned on Côn Đảo by the French from 1908 to 1919. From 1926 to 1928 he served as the first president of the Annamese House of Representatives. In 1927 he founded the Tiếng Dân newspaper in Huế, which the French authorities shut down in 1943.
After the August Revolution, he joined the Viet Minh-led government as an independent and became Minister of Home Affairs on March 2, 1946. From May 31 to October 21, 1946 he was Acting President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and, by that role, ex officio Acting Prime Minister while Ho Chi Minh negotiated in France. In 1946 he returned to Quảng Ngãi to lead the fight against the French in the 5th Interzone.
He died on April 21, 1947 in Nghĩa Hành, Quảng Ngãi, likely from an illness contracted during his work. He was buried atop Thiên Ấn Mountain in Quảng Ngãi. Today many streets in Vietnam are named after him. In 2013 he was posthumously awarded Vietnam’s Gold Star Order, the highest honor.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:30 (CET).