A talented teacher with a passion for studying Philosophy

Books are companions

Professor Nguyen Huu Vui was born on November 28, 1937 in the capital of a thousand years of culture. Perhaps that is why he always bears the beauty of a Hanoian: simple, kind and close. He was born into a family of three brothers, his father was a worker, his mother was a street vendor. In 1946, the resistance war against the French broke out, he had to drop out of school and leave his hometown to follow his parents to Deo An, Bac Can. Although his family's life was very difficult, the young Nguyen Huu Vui always cherished the dream of becoming successful. During the early period of the resistance war, he only learned enough to read and write, but although he was not able to continue studying due to war conditions, he was very passionate about reading books and could read at any time. Among all types of books, he devoted much of his affection to literature books. Nguyen Huu Vui was absorbed in each word, the soaring verses and sometimes small stories. That is why he always dreamed of pursuing a career in Literature. In addition to reading hours, every day he had to go with his brothers to the forest to collect firewood to sell to help his family. At the age of 13 - an age that could be said to be too young to do hard work, the boy Nguyen Huu Vui bravely applied to work as a worker at the Deo An lead mine in Bac Can. But with his outstanding ability to read and write, he was promoted to be a secretary to the mine director. With his hard-working and studious nature, in 1951, he was admitted directly to grade 4 of a primary school, then to secondary school at the Hung Vuong school branch in Phu Tho. During this period, in the general hardship of the country entering the fiercest stage of the resistance war, food was scarce, so many times the primary school student Nguyen Huu Vui had to eat boiled green bananas for a whole month to go to school. In 1954, the Geneva Agreement was signed, the North was immersed in the joy of victory, Nguyen Huu Vui waited for the day to return to Hanoi - his beloved homeland and study in grade 7 (Viet Duc High School). When he got to class, the State had a policy of mixing students from the two resistance factions, so Nguyen Huu Vui transferred to Nguyen Trai High School. During his high school years in Hanoi, after the day of peace, almost every summer vacation, Nguyen Huu Vui and his group of poor classmates worked at construction sites or sold newspapers on the tram to earn more money for school. During his studies at these prestigious schools, Nguyen Huu Vui achieved many excellent results, which was the premise for him to pass the entrance exam to Hanoi Pedagogical University I, Faculty of Literature.

After 1 month of military training, he was selected to study in the Soviet Union. And after only 8 months of intensive foreign language study, he graduated from the Russian language course with excellent results. The school decided to send him to study abroad at Lomonosov University, majoring in Philosophy. Nguyen Huu Vui himself could not have imagined that he would have a chance to major in Philosophy because his passion for Literature was still full. But fate brought him to this mysterious and philosophical field.

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Huu Vui was Head of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (1992-1996)/Photo: Thanh Long

In 1960, he and more than 100 Vietnamese students went to the Soviet Union to study. At this school, which is considered the cradle of many generations of Vietnamese students, student Nguyen Huu Vui was always aware of his responsibility and constantly learned and strived for the ideals he had set. In addition to his regular class hours, he also attended extracurricular classes, listened to lectures on Theology... After 4 years of study, Nguyen Huu Vui returned home with many unforgettable memories of his days studying with his friends and teachers in the neighboring country. Before returning home, Nguyen Huu Vui did not forget to give up his passion for reading by saving all his scholarship money for 4 years to buy the good books he loved.

In 1964, he was assigned to teach at the Department of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy, Hanoi University of Science. He was appointed as the Head of the first Philosophy class of Hanoi University of Science. It can be said that many generations of students of the Faculty have grown up thanks to the teaching of this respected teacher. With his easy-to-understand and humorous teaching style, he has dispelled the anxiety about the subject in the minds of many students. Because in each lecture, in addition to the basic knowledge, the teacher always gives practical examples to stimulate the thinking and creativity of the students. There is an unforgettable memory in the life of teacher Nguyen Huu Vui, which is the early days of the establishment of the Philosophy Department at Hanoi University of Science in 1975. He was appointed by the Department of Marxist-Leninist to organize the first Philosophy class with two cadres of the Institute of Philosophy. The students did not have a place to stay, so he painstakingly collected each bed slat for them to sleep temporarily on the second floor of the school library. Unfortunately, due to some problems, the Philosophy Department was dissolved (it was re-established in 1976). The first Philosophy class that he was the head teacher of had to move to the Economics Department and some other departments of the school.

In 1976, the Faculty of Philosophy of the University was re-established, and Mr. Nguyen Huu Vui was assigned to be the head of the first class of students of the Faculty. In 1977, he was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam. In 1980, the political situation was in a good direction, and he was once again allowed to return to Lomonoxop University as an intern to improve his professional qualifications. After completing a year of internship, the Ministry of Universities allowed a decision to extend the internship for another year for the doctoral students. It was a very difficult decision for him as well as the doctoral students at that time because the time was too short to write and defend their doctoral thesis. But all those difficulties could not defeat the spirit and strong determination of Nguyen Huu Vui. After only one year, he successfully completed and defended his thesis with the topic:Social functions of religion (through religious practice in South Vietnam), major in theory and history of atheismto the admiration of Russian teachers and friends. To achieve these achievements, Nguyen Huu Vui has fully developed his ability and learning spirit, including books. Books are like his soulmates anytime, anywhere. Every day, Nguyen Huu Vui spends all his time going to the big libraries in Moscow, Russia, and reading good books about the field he is pursuing. Professor Cotrétov at Moscow Pedagogical University, who has studied Buddhism in Vietnam since 1925, was the reviewer of a thesis by Nguyen Huu Vui and gave a very good assessment of this thesis. In mid-December of that year, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis. Nguyen Huu Vui was extremely loved by his supervisor and was given compliments: “Soviet graduate students need to follow the spirit and learning attitude of Nguyen Huu Vui.

After a year of dedicated research, Nguyen Huu Vui returned to Vietnam to continue his career of cultivating people. He was assigned to be the Head of the Marxist-Leninist Department of Hanoi University of Science. He was the first doctorate in Marxist-Leninist at the university. In 1992, the Department merged into the Faculty of Philosophy. He was appointed as the Head of the Philosophy Department until 1996. During this time, in addition to teaching, he also researched and wrote books with two main topics: "Religious Studies" and "History of Philosophy". In 2006, Nguyen Huu Vui retired, but he did not allow himself to rest. He was invited by Dong Do University to be the Head of the Marxist-Leninist and Ho Chi Minh Thought Department (later changed to the Faculty of Theory and Politics according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training).

Bringing Poetry into Philosophy

Having devoted his whole life to the cause of national education, the image of a teacher with an elegant figure and a serious but kind face still remains in the hearts of many generations of students of Hanoi University of Science and Dong Do University. Professor Nguyen Huu Vui has taught many undergraduate and graduate courses; guided 17 doctoral theses and about 20 master's theses that were successfully defended and participated in many state-level doctoral thesis evaluation councils. In addition, he was often invited to Cambodia to teach students of other schools (from 1979 to 1989). Not only a person devoted to education, Professor Nguyen Huu Vui also devoted a part of his precious time to scientific research. The two most researched areas are History of Philosophy and Religious Studies. In addition, Professor Nguyen Huu Vui has written and published more than 40 articles in specialized journals; is the editor and co-editor, co-author of 7 books including: textbooks, lecture notes, reference books; Head of a State-level project on:Innovation in teaching methods of Marxist-Leninist science and Ho Chi Minh thought in Vietnam(accepted in 2002); Chaired many topics at the Ministry and National University levels. Typical scientific works such asHistory of Philosophy(co-author - 1994);Religion and ethics – from a philosophical perspective(Philosophy Journal – 1993); Philosophy (3 volumes) (book for non-Philosophy graduate and undergraduate students) – co-editor and co-author (National Political Publishing House, Hanoi – 1999);Philosophy contributes to training human resources for industrialization and modernization.(In the book Social Sciences and Humanities with the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country) National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 2000;Innovation in theoretical work on religion in our country today(in the proceedings of the Scientific Conference on the 55th Anniversary of the August Revolution and the National Resistance on September 2), Hanoi National University Publishing House, 2001; “Marxist-Leninist philosophy”(textbook for universities and colleges - co-editor, co-author), National Political Publishing House, Hanoi - 2002, etc...

Photo: Jackie Chan

Professor Nguyen Huu Vui is most impressed with the bookHistory of Philosophy, editor and author, published in mid-1990. This is a book that he has cherished for a long time and written for a long time. The book is written very concisely with sharp but not dry arguments. According to Professor Nguyen Huu Vui, teaching at universities that lack the history of philosophy will make it very difficult to effectively disseminate Marxist-Leninist thought (including Marxist philosophy). Marxism has a long formation process, so to thoroughly understand and clarify its historical origin and development. Marx and Engels are the successors who developed to the peak of the history of human philosophy. Therefore, if students only stop at learning the principles, they will not see the profound foundation and basis of the theory and practice of building philosophy. Therefore, the inclusion of the history of philosophy in the curriculum of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy will affirm the scientific and practical value of Marxist Philosophy in particular and Marxism in general. Professor Nguyen Huu Vui is also a person with a bold and innovative mindset in teaching philosophy in response to each practical requirement. For example, during his time as Head of the Faculty, facing the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European socialist countries, he and the Faculty's leadership team found solutions to stabilize the ideology of the staff in the Faculty, and at the same time proposed directions for the development of the Faculty in the new situation. He and the leadership team regularly carried out political and ideological work for the staff in the Faculty, combined with the opening of a number of new majors and departments such as: building the Social Management major, separating the science department of Religion, strengthening the role of the History of Philosophy Department, and innovating teaching in the departments of Scientific Socialism and Marxist-Leninist Philosophy. Up to now, the Faculty has developed sustainably.

An unforgettable memory for Professor Nguyen Huu Vui, during a visit to the Soviet bookstore "Foreign Languages", on Goocki Street, Moscow, he was lucky to find the bookCapitalby C. Marx. Years ago, the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong hand-copied this book and brought it to prison, where the French imprisoned revolutionary soldiers to propagate Marxism-Leninism. Professor Nguyen Huu Vui was deeply moved and he composed a poem calledRead Capitalright on Lenin Hill, in front of the gate of Moscow State University (where he was studying in the second year of the Faculty of Philosophy in 1961):

On the park bench

One sunny spring morning

I turn the page

The ink color is still fresh

Like a miracle book

Every word every line

See flowers bloom in my heart

I read with enthusiasm

But then the hand stopped.

Mid-page reading not finished

A fleeting thought in mind

Touch my heart

This is the book.

Decades ago

In the French prison

Uncle Dong copied by hand.

The enemy is cruel!

Flying Dungeon is Thick

But how to stop the revolution?

Marxism keeps flying

Party for me today

In the spring garden birds fly

I am reading capital

And drink every good word

The poem expresses a feeling of joy and happiness when holding a precious book in hand. That happiness can be compared to the case of poet To Huu when he encountered the "sun of truth" of the revolution. Nguyen Huu Vui brought to Philosophy a new and unique color and he always looked at the problem not only with the eyes of a Philosophy researcher but also with the eyes of a person with a poetic artistic soul, a person with a keen sense of political thinking.

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Huu Vui shared that he is always satisfied with his current life because he has a very happy family with a virtuous wife and two successful daughters. His wife - a high school teacher - possesses the pure beauty of a Hanoi girl in the past, who loves her husband and children very much. During the years of fierce war in the North caused by the American invaders, or during the subsidy period when life was full of difficulties, as well as when he had to evacuate with the school to Viet Bac, and then during the years when he was a graduate student abroad or an education expert in Cambodia, his wife almost single-handedly raised her two young daughters to adulthood (the eldest daughter is now a PhD in Economics, working at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; the second daughter is a PhD teaching at a university in Hanoi). Every step on the career path of Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Nguyen Huu Vui has always had the presence and companionship of his wife and children. It can be said that Professor Nguyen Huu Vui's family has supported his steps throughout his life as a noble "person-cultivating" teacher.

In recognition of his contributions to the country's education and science, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Vui has been awarded many noble prizes by the State: Third-class Labor Medal; Third-class Resistance Medal; Medal for the cause of education; Medal for the young generation; Badge for international service (supporting the Cambodian revolution in the period 1979 - 1989). In particular, in 1996, he was awarded the title of Excellent Teacher and in 2008, the title of People's Teacher. But perhaps the most noble prize without a crown is that he has won the love and respect of his students and the trust of his colleagues. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Vui is a respected teacher, a shining example of virtue and dedication to the country's education and science.