Đặng Tuyết Mai, also known as Madame Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (4 October 1941 – 21 December 2016) was the former wife of

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of Sout ...

, former Republic of Vietnam Air Force commander and politician, who served as Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, and then as vice president until he retired from politics in 1971.

Life

Đặng Tuyết Mai was born in Hanoi in a noble family from

Bắc Ninh Bắc Ninh () is a city in the Northern Vietnam, northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a populat ...

Province.

Second Lady of South Vietnam (1967–1971)

Some sources have referred to Madame Đặng Tuyết Mai as the former

First Lady of South Vietnam This is a list of spouses of the List of presidents of Vietnam, presidents of Vietnam (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Phu nhân Chủ tịch nước Việt Nam''). The position is sometimes informally called First Lady of Vietnam (Vietnamese la ...

while others as the former second lady since her ex-husband's highest position in the former

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

was vice president and not president (the prime minister's position was head of government but not head of state). She was an

Air Vietnam Active from 1951 to 1975, Air Viet Nam (Air VN) () was South Vietnam's first commercial air carrier, headquartered in District 1, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Established under a decree by Chief of State Bảo Đại, the airline flew over ...

stewardess before she married General Ky, then the Chief of Staff of the

Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; ; ) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF), was the aerial branch of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the official military of the Repub ...

. While her husband served as prime minister and vice president, she travelled around South Vietnam and wore a military flight suit to show solidarity with the armed forces. In December 1966, she traveled to Tokyo's Jujin Hospital of Cosmetic Surgery for surgery under the name of Miss Dang Tuyet Mai of South Vietnam, which was reported by ''Time'' magazine. Her daughter, Kỳ Duyên, is a well-known personality in the overseas Vietnamese entertainment industry, usually in the role of MC for musical programs.

Exile and later life

During the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, her husband had made arrangements for her and their children to be evacuated, while he fled by helicopter during

Operation Frequent Wind Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Sai ...

, landing aboard the . Reunited, they went into exile in the United States, settling in California. She participated in some overseas art programs such as Asia Center and from ASIA 40 to ASIA 49, as a presenter. She later divorced Ky and moved back to Vietnam, where she managed the restaurant Phở Ta, which was located at

District 3, Ho Chi Minh City District 3 () is an Districts of Vietnam, urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Together with District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, District 1, District 3 is considered the bustling heart of the city, with a multitude of busines ...

. On 21 December 2016, she died at 5:00 a.m. at Hoag Hospital,

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She was 75 years old. She is buried at the Westminster Memorial Park in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

References

External links

Madame Ky arranges a meeting with journalists in Saigon to interview her husband
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dang, Tuyet Mai 1941 births 2016 deaths People from Hanoi Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Women in the Vietnam War Flight attendants