Huỳnh Tấn Phát (15 February 1913, near

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majorit ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

– 30 September 1989,

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

) was a

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

ese communist politician and revolutionary. He was a member of the First National Assembly (

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

), chairman of the ''Revolutionary Government'' of South Vietnam, and, after unification,

Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam The Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Phó Thủ tướng Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), known as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers ( vi, Phó Chủ tịch Hội đồng Bộ trưởng) f ...

. He studied architecture at the

Hanoi University Hanoi University (HANU; vi, Đại học Hà Nội) (formerly Hanoi University of Foreign Studies), established in 1959 in Hanoi, is an institution for foreign language training and research. Hanoi University offers bachelor's degrees in 1 ...

. After his degree he became editor of the anti-French magazine ''Jeunesse'' (Youth) and a founder of the Vanguard Youth movement. Huỳnh Tấn Phát joined the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of No ...

in March 1945, and began revolutionary activities in Saigon, whereupon he was appointed Deputy Director of ''Information and Press Committee'' for the South. When the French re-occupied Saigon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, they had him arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. Upon his release he resumed his revolutionary activities and in 1949 was appointed commissioner UBKCHC south, and the District Commissioner UBKCHC for Saigon - Cholon. He emerged as a leading chief theoretician of the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

(formally the National Liberation Front), the southern, Communist-led political movement backed by North Vietnam. Huỳnh Tấn Phát became chairman of the

Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, vi, Chính phủ Cách mạng Lâm thời Cộng hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam), was formed on June 8, 1969, by North Vietnam as a purportedly independent shadow gover ...

(PRG) on its formation in 1969. Upon the

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

of the South Vietnamese government on 30 April 1975, the PRG became the nominal government of South Vietnam. He held this post until 2 July 1976, when the country was reunified with the North, making him the only

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

South Vietnamese prime minister. From 1976 to 1982 he was a vice premier in Vietnam, and in 1982 he became a Vice President of the Council of State. For his devotion to the communist cause he was awarded the

Order of Ho Chi Minh The Order of Ho Chi Minh ( vi, Huân chương Hồ Chí Minh) is a decoration of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that was first instituted on 6 June 1947. The creator of the order was the president Hồ Chí Minh. The Order of Ho Chi Minh is c ...

. Huỳnh Tấn Phát died 1989 in Ho Chi Minh City at the age of 76.

Notes

1913 births 1989 deaths People from Bến Tre Province Vice presidents of Vietnam Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Communist Party of Vietnam politicians Deputy Prime Ministers of Vietnam Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese revolutionaries {{Vietnam-politician-stub