The story of the first person to translate President Ho Chi Minh's 'Prison Diary' into French

Having worked at the Paris Supreme Court and being a member of the French Communist Party, lawyer Phan Nhuan devoted his entire life to the Fatherland of Vietnam.

Mr. Phan Nhuan was born in 1914, in Van Lam village, Duc Lam commune (now Lam Trung Thuy commune), Duc Tho, Ha Tinh. Born and raised in a rural area rich in revolutionary tradition, he soon joined the movement against French colonialism, then joined the Tan Viet party.

When he was oppressed by the colonial government, Phan Nhuan had to go abroad. With the support of his brother, he went to Paris to study and in 1938 he obtained a bachelor's degree in Law, as well as a bachelor's degree in Literature and History. After taking the oath, lawyer Phan Nhuan was admitted to the Paris Bar Association on November 30, 1938.

Revolutionary activities in France

Living in Paris, he always turned to his homeland and actively participated in the patriotic movement of overseas Vietnamese. As a lawyer, Phan Nhuan always defended his compatriots.

In the memories of our compatriots in France, including Mr. Le Dan - who volunteered to take care of Mr. Nhuan's grave - Mr. Phan Nhuan was a good lawyer in Paris. When he was a "lawyer" for poor soldiers, workers, and Vietnamese people who were wronged, he often defended them without taking money.

Chuyện về người đầu tiên dịch ‘Nhật ký trong tù’ của Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh ra tiếng Pháp

Lawyer Phan Nhuan (1914-1963).

After the August Revolution in 1945, lawyer Phan Nhuan took to the forum to call on France and Vietnam to unite and support the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

During President Ho's visit to France, he participated in organizing overseas Vietnamese to welcome and help our government delegation.

He himself acted as an interpreter for President Ho Chi Minh on several occasions when it was necessary according to diplomatic protocol.

During the first celebration of our country's national day, September 2, 1946, organized by overseas Vietnamese in Paris, President Ho Chi Minh was present. He spoke on behalf of the people praising the success of the August Revolution, the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, expressing trust and loyalty to the cause of the nation, the government, and President Ho Chi Minh.

After a short time being close to President Ho, lawyer Phan Nhuan actively participated in the work of the patriotic overseas Vietnamese movement.

He wrote many articles introducing Vietnam, promoting the new Vietnam in French newspapers, and wrote a lot about President Ho Chi Minh, such as: Ho Chi Minh, the Confucian scholar or Marxist ; participated in translating and introducing Vietnamese literature to French friends and those from other countries.

In Professor Dang Thai Mai's memoir, Phan Nhuan also sent letters to communicate with intellectuals in the country, contributing his knowledge to national development programs such as the project "Education reform from primary, secondary, and university levels".

He sent a letter to poet Nguyen Dinh Thi, then General Secretary of the National Culture Salvation Association, to establish a connection to participate in the work of building a new national culture, which was being implemented at that time.

Opportunity to become a translator

While in Vietnam in the late 1950s, he discovered the manuscript of President Ho Chi Minh's Prison Diary and published it as a book on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of President Ho's birth. In Paris, lawyer Phan Nhuan also began translating this work into French.

As someone who had studied Chinese while in the country, Phan Nhuan boldly began researching President Ho's works and then began translating them.

The French translation of his work Prison Diary was highly appreciated by the world. This was also the basis for many translators in other countries to translate it into their own languages, such as the translation by Italian female translator Joyce Lussu (1912-1998) into Italian published in Tindalo in 1967, reprinted in Milan in 1972; the translation into Mongolian by Mongolian diplomat Namxrai, who was then in Paris, brought back to the country and published in Ulan-Bato in the early 1960s...

To successfully translate President Ho's Prison Diary , he often visited Sante prison for inspiration.

In the introduction to the book published by Pierre Serghers in Paris in mid-1963 and reprinted by Foreign Language Publishing House in Hanoi at the same time, there is a passage that reads: “… I have evoked my childhood memories to recreate the background for the context and to create the best environmental conditions, I think that the poetry collections written in prison would be more beneficial if read and translated in prison...

Therefore, during the winter of 1960-1961, I translated most of Ho Chi Minh's poems in Sante prison, where I often went because of my job. I chose rainy or foggy afternoons, which were more suitable for my psychological state.

Page introducing Phan Nhuan's translation of Uncle Ho's poems into French in a European magazine in 1961. (Source: Tienphong)

In addition to translating Prison Diary , Phan Nhuan also translated a number of Vietnamese folk poems and began translating Nguyen Du's Tale of Kieu into French.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Nguyen Du (1765-1965) according to UNESCO's decision to honor the poet as a world cultural celebrity, culturalist Nguyen Khac Vien in the National Organizing Committee asked Phan Nhuan to re-translate The Tale of Kieu , to have a new, more standard French translation to give to friends around the world on this occasion.

Phan Nhuan immediately set to work. But he only had time to translate about 100 sentences before a serious illness cut short his life and he died on August 6, 1963.

He passed away, leaving the unfinished work to his friend and comrade - Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien (1913-1997). And the translation completed by Nguyen Khac Vien later was also highly appreciated.

Although he was a famous lawyer in Paris, Phan Nhuan lived a very simple life, without a fancy car or house like many other high-ranking intellectuals. He died without a wife or children.

In Paris, his tomb at Parissien de Bagneux cemetery was paved with marble by overseas Vietnamese, with a gold star and the inscription "Forever grateful to you - Lawyer Phan Nhuan".

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