The 130th birthday anniversary of President Tôn Đức Thắng was marked with a grand ceremony held on Monday at the late President’s home village in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. – VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sáng

AN GIANG – The 130th birthday anniversary of President Tôn Đức Thắng was marked with a grand ceremony held on Monday at the late President’s home village in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. 

Prominent delegates at the event were President Trần Đại Quang, head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Education and Popularisation Võ Văn Thưởng, National Assemby Vice Chairman Uông Chu Lưu and many incumbent and former senior officials of the Party, the State and Việt Nam Fatherland Front. 
Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc sent baskets of flowers to the ceremony. 
President Quang delivered a speech, reflecting on the life and revolutionary career of the late President, known affectionately as Uncle Tôn. 
Born on August 20, 1888 at Ông Hổ Islet, An Hoa Village, now Mỹ Hòa Hưng Commune of Long Xuyên City, An Giang Province, Tôn Đức Thắng joined the patriotic movement against the French colonialists at a young age. During his time working abroad, he participated in workers’ movements in France, as well as the rising of the French Navy in the Black Sea in support of the October Revolution in Russia. 
Returning to Việt Nam in 1920, the late President founded the first workers’ union in Việt Nam and led the workers’ movement in Sài Gòn – now HCM City – with the Ba Son strike being the most prominent example of the movement’s activities. He then joined the Việt Nam Revolutionary Youth Union and was entrusted with several key positions. He was arrested by the French colonialists in 1929 and was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour at Côn Đảo Prison. He was among the founders of the first Party cell in prison. 
With the success of the August Revolution, Thắng regained his freedom and immediately joined the resistance war against the French invaders. He was assigned many important missions by the Party, and in any position, he fulfilled his duty, setting an example of patriotism, resolve, loyalty and ethics. 
His great contributions to the Vietnamese revolution, the world peace movement and international friendship won recognition in the form of many noble orders and awards. He was the first person to be conferred with the Sao Vàng (Golden Star) Order by the Vietnamese Party and State. He was also awarded the Lenin Order and the Lenin Prize of the Soviet Union. 
President Quang stressed that with nearly 70 years being engaged in the Vietnamese revolution, 26 successive years serving as President of the Liên Việt Front and the Việt Nam Fatherland Front, and more than 10 years holding the Presidency of the nation, Uncle Tôn’s 92-year life and revolutionary career was a bright example of patriotism, devotion to the revolutionary cause, firm will and revolutionary ethics. 
In HCM City, a delegation of the city’s Party Committee, People’s Council, People’s Committee and Việt Nam Fatherland Front offered incense and floral tributes to the late president at the museum dedicated to him on the occasion of his birthday. 
The museum is holding a display on the childhood of the late president, with around 100 exhibits showing the situation in An Giang Province and the southern region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 
Many delegations of local organisations and people also paid tribute to the great leader at the museum. — VNS