Trần Văn Hữu

Trần Văn Hữu (9 March 1896 – 17 January 1984) served as president of the government of Cochinchina from 1948 to 1949, then as Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam from 1950 to 1952.

Early life
He was born in 1896, in Long My village, Chau Thanh district, Vinh Long province (now Thanh Duc commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) into a wealthy landowner family. His house is in the same village as Trần Văn Hương (later Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam), while Phạm Hùng's house (later Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) is located opposite the other side of the Long Hồ River (belonging to Vietnam). Long Phuoc village ). His father held the position of incense in the village. At a young age, Tran Van Huu studied the French program. Growing up, he went to France to study and graduated with a degree in agricultural engineering. When he returned home, he worked at a real estate bank.

Political career
On September 23, 1945, after the August Revolution broke out and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established, the French army opened fire to occupy Saigon, starting the Indochina war. With the goal of restoring colonial rule in Vietnam and Indochina, France established a pro-French government "Autonomous Cochinchina". Tran Van Huu started participating in politics from here. In July 1946, as a member of the French delegation, he boarded the French ship Dumont Durville to attend the Fontainebleau conference.

In December 1946, in Cochinchina a pro-French cabinet led by Dr. Le Van Hoach as Prime Minister was established, and Tran Van Huu was awarded the position of Minister of Finance. Due to the unstable political situation at this time, many civil servants quit their jobs, or left for resistance zones. In response, Tran Van Huu decided to increase wages for civil servants, calling them back to work for the government. However, the activities of the government of Le Van Hoach proved ineffective. Another government, led by Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Xuan, was established.

In 1947, before returning to the country to establish a government, former emperor Bao Dai invited many figures such as Mr. Ngo Dinh Diem, doctor Phan Huy Quat, doctor Le Van Hoach, Tran Van Huu, Nguyen Ton Hoan... to meet. in Hong Kong. In October 1947, Tran Van Huu was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister in the new administration. He reorganized the administrative apparatus from central to local levels, bringing many Vietnamese into power in an effort to create a real government image of the Vietnamese people. However, his efforts did not bring much fruit because in reality, the French colonial government, both civilian and military in Vietnam, remained the decisive voice.

Life abroad
He lived in France after Ngô Đình Diệm came to power in 1954 in South Vietnam and worked to undermine the Diệm regime. Hữu served as leader of the Committee for Peace and Renewal of South Vietnam, an organization that lobbied for peace and the neutralization of Vietnam in the Cold War. As part of this mission, in 1966 he visited Pope Paul VI and the United Nations Secretary General U Thant.

Because of his lobbying efforts and past political standing, Hữu was seen as an ally of the National Liberation Front (NLF) in Paris. In 1969, the leadership of the NLF proposed Hữu as a possible minister of a new NLF government.