Tôn Đức Thắng Museum attracted nearly 2 million visitors last year. Its rebuilding began in HCM City on October 12. The museum, located on an area of 6,021sq.m, will include five display areas that will feature images, documents and objects about the Communist Party of Việt Nam, its establishment, role, leadership and developments.  (Photo courtesy of the museum)

HCM CITY — The renovation of the Tôn Đức Thắng Museum began in HCM City on Monday. 

The museum, located on 6,021sq.m, will include a modern exhibition building of 2,000sq.m with a basement and four storeys.  

The building will have five display areas which will feature photos, documents and objects about the Communist Party of Việt Nam and its establishment, role, leadership and development in different periods. 

The investment, VNĐ275.7 billion (US$11million), came from the city’s budget.

According to the museum’s director Phạm Thành Nam, the museum’s artefacts and documents have been transferred for storage at the Hồ Chí Minh Museum Branch.

Tôn Đức Thắng Museum is named after the late President Tôn Đức Thắng, founder of the first workers’s union in Việt Nam in 1920. 

Thắng was born in 1888 in An Giang Province’s Long Xuyên City. He joined the patriotic movement against the French colonialists at a young age.

He moved to France and participated in the workers’ movements there, as well as the uprising of the French Navy in the Black Sea in support of the October Revolution in Russia.

In the 1920s, he returned to Việt Nam and led the workers’ movement in Sài Gòn (now HCM City) with the Ba Son strike, the most prominent example of the movement’s activities. He joined and became a leader of the Việt Nam Revolutionary Youth Union.

In 1929, the French colonialists arrested and sentenced him to 20 years in Côn Đảo Prison. One year later, he joined the Communist Party of Việt Nam while he was in prison.

After the August Revolution in 1945, Thắng regained his freedom and joined the resistance war against the French invaders. He was assigned many important missions by the Party.

He was the second President of Việt Nam, serving from 1969 to 1976.

He made great contributions to the Vietnamese revolution, the world peace movement, and international friendships. He was the first person to receive the Sao Vàng (Golden Star) Order from the Party and Government. He was also awarded the Lenin Order and the Lenin Prize of the Soviet Union. 

He died in 1980.

“Tôn Đức Thắng Museum opened in 1988 and houses many artefacts, images and documents featuring Việt Nam’s history and people during the French and American wars,” said the museum’s director Nam. 

“The life and revolutionary career of the late president Thắng are also featured.” 

“The museum has organized several hundred showcases, exhibitions, and special programmes targeted secondary and university students. We will improve our business to attract visitors after the reopening,” he said. 

The museum, located at 5D Tôn Đức Thắng Street in District 1, attracted nearly 2 million visitors last year. The rebuilding will be completed in 2022.— VNS