HÀ NỘI — The French Ambassador to Việt Nam, Bertrand Lortholary, on December 5 presented the Knight of Arts and Letters title to Đặng Thanh Tùng.

The title was given to Tùng, head of the State Department for Records and Archives, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, in a ceremony held at the French Embassy in Hà Nội.

Tùng won the Chevaliers des Lettres et des Arts award for his contribution to the development of culture between the two countries.

The Chevaliers des Lettres et des Arts award was established in 1975 by France’s General de Gaulle. The title of Knight of Arts and The Letters is given to people with outstanding achievements or those who have made great contributions to the arts and literature of France and the world.

Many other Vietnamese have won the title, such as folk artist Trần Kích, dancer Nguyễn Công Nhạc, former director of Việt Nam National Opera and Ballet and film director Đặng Nhật Minh, as well as fashion designer Minh Hạnh, musician Nguyễn Vĩnh Bảo, artist Lê Bá Đảng and film director Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp.

After graduating from the French National School for the Judiciary in Bordeaux, Tùng then worked at the Capital Military Court and moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs as a chief inspector.

With his capability and profound knowledge in building and implementing laws, he has spared no effort to push international co-operation in the field of inspection.

In 2015, Tùng was assigned to work as the head of the Việt Nam State Department for Records and Archives. While he worked there, he promoted co-operation with France and nations using French.

According to Lortholary, in 2016, the French government signed a co-operation agreement with the Vietnamese Government in the records and archives field, which facilitated the co-operation between the two countries in the field, especially in bringing into full play the value of French documents in Việt Nam.

Tùng initiated various activities to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the establishment of the Archives Department and Indochina Library this year, including an exhibition featuring documents on French-style architecture in Hà Nội from October 9 to 27, a conference titled “100 years of Việt Nam-France Heritage: Reviewing Common Memories” on October 5 and an exhibition titled “French Impression through Archives Documents” on December 7.

Expressing his happiness to receive the title at the ceremony, Tùng said that by working at the State Records and Archives, which is responsible for managing valuable heritage stock, him and his colleagues have done their best to preserve the stock.

“I hope to make my small contribution to bring into full play the values of the archives dated back to the colonial period, in and outside Việt Nam,” he said, “And I hope to push the co-operation between Việt Nam’s archives and legal agencies and French partners to a new, high level.” — VNS