HÀ NỘI – More than 200 photos, documents and objects, many of them featuring the period when Vietnamese revolutionary leader Nguyễn Ái Quốc, later President Hồ Chí Minh, worked in France (1911-41) are on display in downtown Hà Nội.

Entitled “President Hồ Chí Minh and France-Việt Nam Friendship”, the exhibition focuses on four topics: the president in the early days, searching for a way to liberate the Vietnamese people from colonialists and fighting for equal relationship between France and Việt Nam; President Hồ Chí Minh on his first official visit to France as the leader of the Việt Nam Democratic Republic in 1946; President Hồ Chí Minh’s efforts to strengthen ties between the two peoples; and developing President Hồ Chí Minh’s ideology on the relationship [between the two countries] in modern times.

Among the objects on display, a camera with which photos of President Hồ Chí Minh’s funeral were taken and a letter written by President Hồ Chí Minh to the leader of the French Women’s Union on September 22, 1946, are the most valuable ones. In the above-mentioned letter, President Hồ asked the French government to agree to the independence of Việt Nam.

“During his entire life spent on working for the nation’s independence, Hồ Chí Minh lived, worked and studied in many countries all over the world,” Nguyễn Thúy Đức, acting director of the Hồ Chí Minh Museum, that is hosting the exhibition, said. “France is where he stayed the longest and where he left behind various historical traces.”

“It’s our generation’s duty to develop the relationship and co-operation with the French people that President Hồ laid the foundation of,” she said. “Over time, Việt Nam and France have become special partners. France has become a leading developed nation in Europe and Việt Nam is among the most energetic developing countries in Asia.”

The exhibition, which aims to celebrate the 70th anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh’s first official visit to France (1946) and the 71st anniversary of the August Revolution (1945), will run at the Hồ Chí Minh Museum till December this year. The museum is located at 19 Ngọc Hà Street, Ba Đình District. – VNS