General Vo Nguyen Giap's wife - a loyal and devoted life partner

The 70-year love affair between General Vo Nguyen Giap and Ms. Dang Bich Ha

Ms. Dang Bich Ha was born in 1928 in Thanh Chuong (Nghe An), the eldest child in a family of 6 children. Her father was Professor Dang Thai Mai, a famous teacher, writer, and literary critic. He held important positions such as: Minister of Education, first Director of the Vietnam Institute of Literature...

General Vo Nguyen Giap was a comrade and colleague of Mr. Dang Thai Mai since the early days of the Tan Viet Party. Mrs. Bich Ha once said that when she was 6-7 years old, when she first came to live in Hanoi, General Vo Nguyen Giap took her to Hang Day Stadium. One day, he suddenly joked: "I will marry Ha with a plate of sticky rice and a chicken". More than 10 years later, that statement became true.

Before that, during his time working and living in Vinh from 1931 to 1941, General Vo Nguyen Giap lived at the house of Professor Dang Thai Mai. He considered Ms. Bich Ha as a younger sister, always pampering and taking care of her.

Later, when General Vo Nguyen Giap married his first wife, Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, Bich Ha's whole family loved her very much and considered her a family member. In 1943, Bich Ha followed her school to Thanh Hoa and only returned to Hanoi in 1945.

In 1945, the two met again after General Vo Nguyen Giap was suffering the pain of his life. His wife, also a revolutionary comrade Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, was arrested and died in Hoa Lo prison. Loving and admiring him, Ms. Bich Ha shared and accompanied him, and gradually the two developed feelings.

At the end of 1946, Professor Dang Thai Mai’s family agreed to hold a wedding ceremony for Vo Nguyen Giap and Dang Bich Ha. The wedding was held very simply and modestly. Despite the age gap, they were always close friends until the last days of their lives.

Mrs. Bich Ha once shared that although he was often away from home, the General never let his wife and children feel worried or disappointed. He often took a few minutes to write short letters to her and the children to ask about their health and encourage them to study and work.

Mrs. Dang Bich Ha and General Vo Nguyen Giap had 4 children together, 3 sons, 1 daughter: Vo Hoa Binh (born in 1951), Vo Hanh Phuc (born in 1952); Vo Dien Bien (born in 1954), Vo Hong Nam (born in 1956). During the years she was with the General, she loved and cherished everything about him: his martyr wife, his stepdaughter (Vo Hong Anh) and his grandchildren.

In her personal career, she is a History teacher at Hanoi Pedagogical University and a researcher at the Southeast Asia Institute. She is always loved by her colleagues for her modesty, simplicity, and lack of interest in fame and fortune.

In a conversation, Associate Professor Dr. Dang Xuyen Nhu, the youngest sister of Mrs. Dang Bich Ha, once commented: "Ms. Ha is like my mother, kind and sincere. She is an intelligent, knowledgeable but modest person. And anyone who meets her can easily recognize that she is an enthusiastic and cheerful person."

During the days when General Vo Nguyen Giap's health gradually weakened, he spent most of his time in the hospital. Every week, Ms. Bich Ha visited her husband, talked and shared with him.

Since General Vo Nguyen Giap passed away in 2013, Ms. Dang Bich Ha has lived quietly with her children and grandchildren. Their simple and profound love is still mentioned in articles and literature, becoming a symbol of simple but sacred and lasting things.