Lê Khả Phiêu

Lê Khả Phiêu
Le Kha Phieu in 2011
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
In office
26 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded byĐỗ Mười
Succeeded byNông Đức Mạnh
Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party
In office
29 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded byĐỗ Mười
Succeeded byNông Đức Mạnh
Personal details
Born(1931-12-27)27 December 1931
Đông Khê commune, Đông Sơn District, French Indochina
Died7 August 2020(2020-08-07) (aged 88)
Hanoi, Vietnam
Political partyCommunist Party of Vietnam
Military service
Allegiance Vietnam
Branch/service Vietnam People's Army
Years of service1950–1997[1]
RankColonel General
CommandsChairman of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army
Political Commissar of the High Command of the Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers in Cambodia
Battles/warsCambodian–Vietnamese War, Vietnam War, First Indochina War

Lê Khả Phiêu (27 December 1931 – 7 August 2020[2]) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001.[3] Lê Khả Phiêu served in the Vietnam People's Army during the First and Second Indochina Wars, join in the Cambodian war, and was Head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army.[4]

Lê Khả Phiêu has previously been viewed as a conservative.[5] However, this categorization has been challenged by historian Martin Gainsborough, who notes that Lê Khả Phiêu made some remarkably outspoken comments about problems in the party before the Tenth Party Congress. Lê Khả Phiêu criticized what he called 'illness of partyization' (bệnh đảng hoá), meaning that the Party controls everything.[6] Lê Khả Phiêu was a protégé of his predecessor, Đỗ Mười.[7] He was elevated to the Politburo in the early 1990s.[8]

Early life[edit]

Lê Khả Phiêu was born on 27 December 1931 in Thượng Phúc village in Đông Khê District in Thanh Hoa Province. In 1945, he joined the local Viet Minh movement and joined the Indochinese Communist Party on 19 June 1949.

On 1 May 1950 he was sent by the Viet Minh to join the army. He was promoted to second lieutenant, advancing to the position of Company Politician in the 66th Regiment of the 304th Division. From September 1954 to 1958, he held the post of Deputy Political Officer member of the battalion and then 66th Regimental Political Chair.

Death[edit]

Lê Khả Phiêu died on 7 August 2020 in Hanoi, after suffering from serious illness, at the age of 88.

A 2-day mourning period for his death was decreed nationwide in Vietnam from 14 to 15 August 2020. He was buried at Mai Dịch Cemetery in Hanoi.

Awards and honors[edit]

Source:[9]

Gold Star Order (2007)[10]
Military Exploit Order
First class
Military Exploit Order
Second class
Military Exploit Order
Third class
Resistance Order
First class
Resolution for Victory Order
Third class
Feat Order
First class
Feat Order
Second class
Feat Order
Third class
Medal for the Victory of Liberation
First Class
Medal for the Victory of Liberation
Second Class
Medal for the Victory of Liberation
Third Class
Liberation Order
First Class
Liberation Order
Second Class
Liberation Order
Third Class
Victory Banner Medal
Glorious Fighter Medal
First Class
Glorious Fighter Medal
Second Class
Glorious Fighter Medal
Third Class
Order of José Martí
(Cuba)[11]
Freedom Medal
(Laos)

Other decorations include:

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Former Party Chief Lê Khả Phiêu". Ministry of Public Security. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. ^ Nguyên Tổng bí thư Lê Khả Phiêu từ trần, Former General Secretary Le Kha Phieu dead
  3. ^ Gainsborough 2010, p. 143
  4. ^ The A to Z of Vietnam Bruce M. Lockhart, William J. Duiker – 2010 p205 Lê Khả Phiêu
  5. ^ Bolton 1999
  6. ^ Gainsborough 2010, 137
  7. ^ Bolton 1999, 177
  8. ^ Bolton 1999, p. 180
  9. ^ "Tiễn biệt nguyên Tổng Bí thư Lê Khả Phiêu về nơi an nghỉ cuối cùng". Báo Lao Động. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Trao tặng các đồng chí nguyên lãnh đạo Đảng và Nhà nước Huân chương Sao Vàng, Huân chương Hồ Chí Minh". qdnd.vn. 25 December 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Party Leader Conferred With Cuba's Highest Distinction". Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the United States. 10 July 1999. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Former Party Chief receives 65-year Party membership badge". Voice of Vietnam. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
References
  • Bolton, Kent (1999): "Domestic Sources of Vietnam's Foreign Policy: Normalizing Relations with the United States". in Thayer, Carlyle A., Amer, Ramses (ed.): Vietnamese Foreign Policy in Transition. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
  • Gainsborough, Martin (2010): Vietnam – Rethinking the State. Zed Books, London & New York

External links[edit]

Party political offices
Preceded by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
1997–2001
Succeeded by