Collector Nguyen Phi Dung

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung ( Nam Dinh ) currently owns more than 20 tons of newspapers of various types and genres. He has dedicated a separate display space for each newspaper, including those hundreds of years old, and early revolutionary newspapers such as Cuu Quoc, Doc Lap, Co Giai Phong, etc., which hold historical value for the country.

For him, print journalism is not just about intellect, responsibility, and the love of a journalist behind the words; what he is doing, his passion for collecting and spreading knowledge to the younger generation, is a way for this responsible man to preserve a part of his country's history.

He named the room where he kept the newspapers "PDC Newspaper Collection Room." The room was equipped with air conditioning and a dehumidifier to preserve the newspapers. Mr. Dung neatly arranged the newspapers on shelves that reached high up to the ceiling; he categorized them by subject, genre, time period, and topicality…

Over time, the volume of newspapers has increased, making it difficult to preserve them intact, and conservation efforts have become challenging. Collector Nguyen Phi Dung's wish is to open a museum to improve the storage and preservation of publications, as well as to promote digital transformation for sustainable data preservation for future generations.

The Newspaper & Public Opinion magazine would like to present to its readers the extensive collection of collector Nguyen Phi Dung:

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung (Nam Dinh city, Nam Dinh province) is quite famous in the antique collecting world. With his "museum" of newspapers, he is always ready to welcome visitors to his vast collection.

In the room spanning hundreds of square meters, Mr. Dung has collected numerous newspapers and magazines. Among them are some of the earliest newspapers from Vietnam's early press, which are rare and valuable.

Despite its small size compared to a museum, he arranged the newspaper publications and documents quite systematically . In the photo, he has dedicated a separate area for the Spring and Tet (Lunar New Year) issues of newspapers.

The People's Newspaper and the People's Army Newspaper are publications that account for a large number of issues. He has owned them all, from the very first issues to the later ones, all categorized according to time periods.

The May 1954 issue of Nhan Dan newspaper reported on the event "We achieved complete victory at the Dien Bien Phu front". Thanks to careful and meticulous preservation, the original issues have remained intact for over 70 years.

He had many unique journalistic publications. This is one of the publications from the Dien Bien Phu Campaign: the People's Army Newspaper organized a forward editorial office, publishing 33 issues right at the front lines, distributing them directly to officers and soldiers in the trenches.

Inheriting a treasure trove of antique newspapers from his ancestors, Mr. Dung now quickly hunts down and buys them through old connections in the antique collecting community and social media. As soon as he receives a phone call mentioning an advertisement for old newspapers, he goes to the location to purchase them.

Every day, he still spends many hours reading, classifying, organizing, and documenting all the publications so that readers and visitors can easily access them.

Despite being a multi-story building on a main street in the city center that is not for rent, he still dedicates a large portion of the space to preservation and storage. Many of the first issues of major national newspapers are kept here.

According to collector Nguyen Phi Dung, there are many old, antique newspapers with fairly good quality paper that can be preserved for a long time without fear of termites. The photo shows the area where thousands of issues of the Newspaper and Public Opinion are stored.

He contributed both regular and special issues to the newspaper "Journalist and Public Opinion".

The first issue of the Saigon Liberation newspaper was published on May 5, 1975.

On October 15, 1954, Vietnam Photo News launched its first issue. With the name "Images of Vietnam" for its early issues, throughout its six-decade journey, Vietnam Photo News has continued to fulfill its role as a photographic chronicle, vividly and realistically portraying the image of Vietnam and its people.

On October 10, 1942, the Central Committee of the Party published the newspaper "Liberation Flag". The newspaper was headed by Comrade Truong Chinh, the Party's General Secretary. Sixteen issues were published, spanning from 1942 to 1944.

Among the thousands of newspapers he collected, there were five rare ones.

Collector Nguyen Phi Dung has also donated quite a number of artifacts, old and antique newspapers to various organizations, such as: the Vietnam Press Museum (Vietnam Journalists Association), the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the People's Committee of Nam Dinh province, and many other museums.

The press reflects life, providing us with information on all aspects of Vietnamese society throughout different periods. Mr. Dung wants to preserve all of this, not only for himself but for anyone who needs to learn about a historical era, the political, economic, cultural, social, or artistic developments of the country.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-suu-tam-nguyen-phi-dung--nguoi-luu-giu-kho-bau-bao-chi-cach-mang-viet-nam-post299351.html