The discussion lasted for a whole day, with nearly 30 presentations and opinions, many touching stories were shared, tears were shed and everyone was filled with admiration, respect and deep gratitude for a great scientist with far-reaching international influence; a kind and virtuous teacher who always had love for all his students.
Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, spoke about the outstanding contributions in the career of Professor Phan Huy Le, especially emphasizing his contributions in building and developing many fields of study, departments, and faculties of the University.
Prof. Dr. Vu Minh Giang (Vice President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association) emphasized the turning point of the Historical Science Association when he became the President of the Association, pioneering in the historical innovation, gathering a large number of prestigious domestic and international scientists in major scientific conferences. That has established a solid foundation for the Association to grow stronger and stronger.
Professor Phan Huy Le was born on February 23, 1934 in Thach Chau commune, Thach Ha district (now Loc Ha), Ha Tinh province in a family with a tradition of mandarin education with many famous intellectuals such as Phan Huy Ich, Phan Huy Chu, Phan Huy Vinh, etc. His maternal family was also a famous family with famous and erudite scholars such as Cao Xuan Duc, Cao Xuan Tieu, etc.
To create the intelligence, personality and stature of a leading historian of Vietnam in the 20th - early 21st century, we must mention the outstanding qualities inherited from the ancestors and a sharp scientific mindset; the passion, enthusiasm, tireless perseverance; the courage to commit and sacrifice for the cause of education and scientific research of the country of Professor, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le.
Therefore, Professor Phan Huy Le has had outstanding research works since he was very young and beyond the borders, affirming and raising the level of Vietnamese History in the international arena. His many contributions have created a huge turning point in the development of the science of History: both awareness and research methods.
Under the guidance of legendary professors Tran Van Giau, Dao Duy Anh, ... the young teacher Phan Huy Le began his journey with the history industry, teaching career and soon made great strides. In 1958, when he was only 24 years old, he was entrusted with the position of Head of the Department of Ancient and Medieval History of Vietnam (under the University of General Sciences), and then within just two years later, he published monographs and textbooks, including works that have been
beyond bordersDuring his 30 years in this position, Professor Phan Huy Le has built and developed the Department into a highly prestigious academic unit, making significant contributions to the country's history in both scientific research and staff training.
Professor Tran Van Giau and his wife, 4 excellent students, "four pillars" of modern Vietnamese History: Lam, Le, Tan, Vuong (Professor Dinh Xuan Lam, Professor Phan Huy Le, Professor Ha Van Tan, Professor Tran Quoc Vuong)
As a far-sighted scientist, right after the country entered the Doi Moi period, Professor Phan Huy Le quickly grasped the development trend of modern Social Sciences and Humanities in the world and built a new interdisciplinary scientific unit. In 1989, the Center for Vietnamese Studies and Cultural Exchange under the University of General Sciences, the predecessor of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences today, was established with him as Director. With tireless efforts, he connected and cooperated with most of the world's major training and research centers on Vietnamese studies. During his tenure as Director (1989 - 2001), the Center welcomed and had academic exchanges with hundreds of international Vietnamese scholars, including many world-class scholars. On that basis, since 1998 the Center has been the core organization of the first International Conference on Vietnamese Studies in Vietnam with the scale of nearly 1,000 delegates, including more than 300 international scholars from 26 countries. Up to now, this special event has become a habit of being held every 4 years and has organized 6 Conferences.
From the new awareness of the trend of regional studies, in 1995, Professor Phan Huy Le became the founding Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Many new fields of study such as Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Southeast Asian Studies... were formed from here and are being highly appreciated by society.
Prof. Dr. Vu Duong Ninh (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) shared an unforgettable memory when he participated in a business trip with Prof. Phan Huy Le in 1973. "He is a scientist with a very high scientific reputation not only in the country but also in the international scientific community. I not only learned from him about his expertise but especially his extremely scientific, thoughtful and creative way of organizing work" - Prof. Vu Duong Ninh emphasized.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) affirmed: Prof. Phan Huy Le has outstanding research on the topic of land in Vietnamese history, economic and social forms.
Associate Professor Dr. Le Dinh Sy (Institute of Military History) based on statistics confirmed: Professor Phan Huy Le spent a lot of time, enthusiasm and made outstanding contributions in researching the topics: history of the nation's resistance against invasion, uprisings in history, characters,... with hundreds of research works.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council) shared: The topic of sovereignty and protection of sovereignty, especially the sovereignty of the sea of the Fatherland of Vietnam, has always been of interest to Prof. Phan Huy Le and he has diligently researched and studied it. "In addition to thoroughly and carefully exploiting many ancient documents and maps in Vietnam as well as many countries around the world, he always focuses on field research, regularly going to the research sites directly" - Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim expressed his admiration for the profound intelligence, sharp scientific thinking, but extremely careful of Prof. Phan Huy Le
Professor Phan Huy Le has made great contributions to the Vietnamese historian community and the country's history during his tenure as President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association. Under his leadership, the Historical Science Association has pioneered the reform of history, widely mobilizing historians across the country to participate in national and international conferences, creating a great resonance. Along with academic activities, Professor Phan Huy Le also brought the Historical Science Association into policy consulting work, contributing to improving the quality of many decisions of the Party and State on issues related to history.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Duc Cuong (Chairman of the Vietnam Historical Science Association) emphasized: Without Professor Phan Huy Le, there would certainly not be a developed and highly prestigious Historical Science Association like today.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Minh Tuong (Institute of History) with a detailed report and very specific statistics shows that Professor Phan Huy Le is an extremely knowledgeable scientist. His research covers many fields: politics, economics, culture - society, military art, historical figures, etc. And in every subject area, he has achieved outstanding successes, with excellent research works of very high scientific value, creating a new development step of Vietnamese History, not only in terms of awareness but also in terms of research methods.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin (Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association) was enthusiastic and proud when sharing emotional stories when he directly participated with Professor Phan Huy Le in protecting the Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic exactly 20 years ago and then compiled a heritage dossier to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a World Cultural Heritage. "I still remember clearly what the Teacher said at that time: We must be determined to protect and preserve the relic, if we cannot protect it now, it means we are committing a sin against our ancestors and against many future generations. The Teacher's teachings are also the guiding principle, the motivation that urges me to overcome many difficulties in the process of archaeological research" - Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin emphasized
Dr. Pham Duc Anh (Director of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences) expressed his deep gratitude for the great contributions of Professor Phan Huy Le in establishing and developing the Institute as well as the birth of a new scientific field - Vietnamese Studies in Vietnam.
MSc. Nguyen Thu Hoai (National Archives Center I) and Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong (Vice President of UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for the Asia-Pacific region) emphasized the great contribution of Prof. Phan Huy Le in preserving, protecting and promoting the value of archival sources (typically Nguyen Dynasty's Royal Records) in historical research.
As an erudite, enthusiastic and highly responsible scientist, Professor Le is always trusted and invited to participate in strategic advisory bodies such as the Central Theoretical Council, the National Council for Science and Technology Policy, the State Academic Title Council, the National Cultural Heritage Council, the National Council for Directing the Compilation of the Vietnamese Encyclopedia, the Council for Considering the Ho Chi Minh Prize and the State Prize for Science and Technology, the National Fund for Science and Technology Development, the Science and Training Council of Hanoi National University, etc.
For his great contributions to scientific research and teaching, in 1980, he was awarded the title of Professor. Noble titles of the teaching profession were awarded to him in 1988 (Excellent Teacher) and 1994 (People's Teacher). Then, Professor Phan Huy Le was awarded noble prizes by the State such as the Third Class Independence Medal, the Second Class Resistance Medal, the First, Second, and Third Class Labor Medals.
In 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, he was awarded the title of Outstanding Citizen of the Capital by Hanoi City. Later, he was awarded the title of Outstanding Intellectual of Science and Technology (2015). Since 2003, Professor Phan Huy Le has been appointed by the Secretariat to the rank of senior expert.
In particular, in 2014, Professor Phan Huy Le was assigned to be the Head of the project to Research and compile the History of Vietnam (National History). This General History, with him as the Chief Editor, has a scale of 25 volumes of general history and 5 volumes of event chronicles with a capacity of up to tens of thousands of pages. This is the largest Vietnamese history book ever.
Among hundreds of works published domestically and internationally, the collection of works under the title "Finding the Roots" printed in 2 volumes with a total of 1,753 pages was awarded the State Prize for Science and Technology in 2000. In 2016, Professor Phan Huy Le received the Ho Chi Minh Prize, the highest award in science, with the work "History and Culture of Vietnam - Approaching the Parts" with a thickness of more than 1,000 pages. In 2017, the two-volume book "Southern Land - Formation and Development Process" with a thickness of 1,502 pages edited by him was awarded the Tran Van Giau Prize.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc (Vice President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association) highlighted the contribution of Prof. Phan Huy Le as "Commander-in-Chief" in the Project of Research and Compilation of Vietnamese History (National History).
Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quan (Head of the Department of History, University of Social Sciences and Humanities) shared his memories when implementing the research project on the Southern Region.
Not only famous as one of the "four pillars" of the country's history, Professor Phan Huy Le is also highly appreciated by the world's scientific community. He has been invited to teach at many prestigious universities in France, the Netherlands, Japan, etc., and chaired major international conferences in many countries around the world. Currently, almost all continents have his students and he is holding high positions in educational and research institutions. In 1996, he was honored to be the first Vietnamese to receive the Fukuoka International Asian Cultural Award, Japan (this is an extremely strict award in selecting candidates). He was also awarded the Academic Palm Medal by the French Government in 2002 and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Arts awarded him the title of Foreign Correspondent Academician in 2011, and the French École Française d'Extrême-Orient awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2016.
(2011) Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities) congratulated Prof. Phan Huy Le.
During his life of dedication, Professor Phan Huy Le has always received special respect from his students, colleagues and partners. Any student, whether directly taught, guided by the teacher or just having the opportunity to work with the teacher through some seminars and research topics, receives strict scientific guidance but is very caring, thoughtful, emotional and understanding of life. With each student, colleague or partner, the teacher shows respect for both the capacity and personality of each person, always encourages and motivates even the smallest results and is especially the one who gathers and assembles many talented experts in many fields to successfully carry out very large scientific projects. That not only shows a profound intellect, excellent scientific organization capacity, a great influence of an international scientist but also shows a tolerant heart, virtue of a teacher who is respected and honored by thousands of students at home and abroad.
The discussion took place in a whole day, the sky in Hanoi was getting dark but it seemed that the memories of Mr. Phan Huy Le still lasted, lasted forever. Because in the heart of each person, there were unforgettable memories of a scientist, a teacher who devoted his whole life to science, to the cause of researching the history and culture of the country.
In a warm atmosphere, Prof. Dr. Vu Minh Giang summarized the Discussion, emphasizing: With more than 60 years of career, Professor Phan Huy Le has left for posterity an extremely large legacy with hundreds of research works, a unique creativity in the 20th century and many hundreds of years to come. Whether it is a magazine article or a scientific work with tens of thousands of pages, all of his publications have a very high scientific content, are exemplary in terms of seriousness, accuracy and logic, have very bold and new proposals, paving the way for the whole research trend. From the works he wrote more than half a century ago to the works completed only a few months before he passed away, until now, they still retain their scientific value, becoming documents that all researchers in the fields of history and Vietnamese studies at home and abroad must refer to. A seminar, or a few seminars, certainly cannot honor all the values and contributions of the Teacher to science and education. And the best way for our generation of students to remember and show gratitude to the Teacher is to preserve, promote and develop the legacy he left behind, continue to successfully carry out his unfinished plans and aspirations; no matter what position you hold, let's contribute our best to the country's science in general and History in particular.
Professor of History, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le, with a great personality and a great career, has become a symbol of modern Vietnamese historians. He is a shining example and a source of pride for colleagues and generations of students not only domestically but also internationally. We are all proud to be students of Professor, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le.
