The French School of Far Eastern Studies honors historian Phan Huy Lê.

Due to health reasons, Professor Phan Huy Le was unable to attend the ceremony and authorized the Vietnamese Ambassador to France, Nguyen Ngoc Son, to accept this prestigious award on his behalf.In a letter to the EFEO leadership, Professor Phan Huy Le expressed his honor at receiving an honorary doctorate from EFEO – a major French research institution on Asian civilizations.He considered the awarding of this title as an encouragement for him and his colleagues to continue their research and the management of ancient texts and documents in Vietnam.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director of the French School of Far Eastern Studies Yves Goudinau highly appreciated Professor Phan Huy Le's contributions to the history of the country.According to him, historian Phan Huy Le was respected and admired by his colleagues not because he continuously held the position of Chairman of the Vietnam Historical Science Association since 1988, but because he was a scientist who knew how to combine traditional research methods with modern methods.He is known for his vast body of work, comprising 500 research papers that served as the foundation for later studies, particularly those on Vietnamese rural society and the connections that linked Vietnam to Southeast Asia.

The Director of EFEO also stated that Professor Phan Huy Le's research was pioneering and has yet to be surpassed, and that he has also made continuous efforts to preserve and promote the value of Vietnam's tangible heritage.

His openness to new ideas made him known not only domestically but also internationally. It was also his intellectual openness, scientific rigor, spirit of international cooperation, and compassion that led EFEO to award him an honorary doctorate.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son speaks at the ceremony. (Photo: Bich Ha/VNA)

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son thanked the EFEO for honoring Professor Phan Huy Le's research and highlighting his contributions to the field of historical science.

The Ambassador also emphasized the contributions of the French School of Far Eastern Studies over more than a century to the development of research in the social sciences and humanities in Vietnam, to the training of scientists and intellectuals, as well as to the preservation and promotion of tangible and intangible heritage in Vietnam.

According to vietnamplus.vn