Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
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- This is a Vietnamese name; the family name is Nguyễn, but is often simplified as Nguyen in English-language text. According to Vietnamese custom, this person properly should be referred to by the given name Thọ.
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ (July 10, 1910- December 24, 1996) was acting President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from March 30, 1980 to July 4, 1981.
A French-educated lawyer in Cochin China, he was also a member of the French Socialist Party and a participant in the Vietnamese struggle for independence. Kept in detention from 1950 to 1952, he later came to support the 1954 Geneva agreements, but opposed the regime of South Vietnam's president Ngo Dinh Diem. He was arrested again, this time by the South Vietnamese government in 1954 and remained in detention until 1961, when he managed to escape.
Once free, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ became Chairman of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front Central Committee, and in 1969, Chairman of the Consultative Council of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, a post he retained until South Vietnam was incorporated into North Vietnam in 1976. In the newly united Vietnam, he served as one of 2 vice-presidents until the death of Ton Duc Thang, when he was named acting president (April 1980 - July 1981), a post he held until the appointment of Truong Chinh, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, in July 1981. Upon relinquishing the post of president, he assumed the role of Chairman of the National Assembly until 1987.
Nguyễn Hữu Thọ was awarded Lenin Peace Prize (1983-84).
| Preceded by none |
Chairman of the Consultative Council of Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam 1969–1976 |
Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by Ton Duc Thang |
President of Vietnam (acting) 1980–1981 |
Succeeded by Truong Chinh |
