Professor Vu Khieu. (Photo: VOV)

Professor Hoang Chuong, a prominent culture researcher, described Professor Vu Khieu as "a rare phenomenon" in contemporary social life. The founder of the Research Centre for Traditional Culture Preservation and Promotion of Vietnam said Vu Khieu is an example of a tireless worker who is known and respected by the entire nation and by foreign friends as a special professor of philosophy and human civilization.

Professor Vu Khieu, whose full name was Dang Vu Khieu, was born in 1916 in the northern province of Nam Dinh. He engaged in revolutionary activities before 1945, and was involved in Party work, mass mobilization, the army, and foreign affairs. Professor Khieu was also a scholar who did a great deal of research on Vietnamese culture. As the first director of the Institute of Sociology, he laid the foundation for the development of sociology and aesthetics in Vietnam, according to Professor Hoang Chuong.

“Professor Vu Khieu was the leading cultural researcher in Vietnam. He did a lot of research on the aesthetics of the arts,” said. Mr Chuong.

As a pioneer of sociology in Viet Nam, Professor Khieu contributed to building sound moral relations and good moral qualities, and promoting revolutionary heroism, especially during the American war. His goal was to steer literature and art towards beauty and the elimination of negativity.  

The professor wrote many books on philosophy, ethics, literature, art, culture, and society. Among these works are Dep  (Beauty, 1963), Cao Ba Quat (1970), Anh hung va nghe sy (Heroes and Artists, 1972), Ngo Thi Nham (1976), Cach mang va nghe thuat  (Revolution and Art, 1979).

Many of his works, such as Marx - Engels - Lenin, discuss morality and have had a strong influence on Vietnam.

Professor Vu Khieu was noted for his in-depth research on the education, folk tales, religions, and culture of Thang Long (the ancient name of Hanoi) in different dynasties. At the age of 95, he contributed to a 2,400-page book titled Van Hien ThangLong (The Thousand-Year Culture of Thang Long) published on the occasion of the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. 

“Professor Vu Khieu had a profound knowledge of Vietnamese culture, which he displayed in the fields of literature, history, philosophy, aesthetics, and Ho Chi Minh ideology. His speeches and writings were popular with people young and old,” said Professor Phong Le, former director of the Literature Institute.

Several well-known works by Professor Vu Khieu. (Photo: VOV)

Professor Khieu received the very first Ho Chi Minh Prize in 1996, and was awarded the title ‘Hero of Labor in the Renewal Period’ in 2000 and the First-class Independence Order in 2006.

When Hanoi celebrated its millennial anniversary in 2010, he was honored as one of 11 outstanding citizens of the capital city.