Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang has visited and presented gifts to Madeleine Riffaud, a French revolutionary and former journalist of the French newspaper L'Humanité, and a close friend of the Vietnamese people, VNA reported.

Riffaud recalled her deep memories of Vietnam, a country she always loves. At the age of 99, despite her poor health, she still clearly remembers the times she met General Vo Nguyen Giap and extended her regards to her Vietnamese friend Nguyen Thi Binh.

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang presents a gift of logo symbolising 50th anniversary of Vietnam and France. Photo: VNA

She said she does not forget the images of the American bombings which devastated the North of Vietnam. For her, Vietnam always remains in her memories and her love for this distant country is always intact, never changes.

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang conveyed the greetings of the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to Riffaud; briefed her on the recent activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between Vietnam and France, and affirmed its significant contribution to these relations.

Grateful for the contributions of many generations of French friends, including Riffaud, to fostering the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and France, Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang expressed his emotion to visit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam and bilateral diplomatic relations.

On this occasion, he presented the French friend with a souvenir with the logo of 50 years of Vietnam-France relations.

Madeleine Riffaud still treasures her fond memories of Vietnam.

Jean-David Morvan, who takes care of Riffaud and is always at her side, presented to the ambassador the memories she brought back from Riffaud's visits to Vietnam, including the posters “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”, to the Order of Friendship, pages of the Tet (Lunar New Year) newspaper of Courrier du Vietnam, and the popular prints of Dong Ho.

According to Morvan, all these memories are always cherished and respected by Riffaud.

Born on August 23, 1924, in Paris, the young French Madeleine Riffaud joined the French Resistance front at the age of 18 under the pseudonym Rainer. She fought bravely against the Nazis during World War II and was sentenced to death by the fascists. The young woman was rescued by the guerrillas before the date set for her execution. Later she threw herself into the struggle against French colonialism in Algeria and was tortured, even threatened with assassination, for her activities.

Riffaud came to Vietnam during the country’s resistance war against the French. During the war against the US imperialists, she was affectionately known as ‘Sister Tam’ by Vietnamese soldiers. As a war correspondent for the newspaper l'Humanité which speaks for the French Communist Party, she was directly present in the anti-American war in Vietnam.

President Ho Chi Minh and Madeleine Riffaud. Photo: VNA

Her book ‘In Viet Cong Resistance Zone’ describes her time spent in a base of the Vietnamese liberation soldiers, who faced numerous dangers, not least the deluge of bombs and bullets from the US. The book helps readers understand how a small and poor nation could defeat a much wealthier and stronger enemy.

Meanwhile, her articles on the life and courageous struggles of the Vietnamese people in this war were published in France, attracting many peace-loving readers. It has always supported the Vietnamese people in the national liberation struggle in the past as well as in the work of building the country today.

Recognizing Madeleine Riffaud's great contributions, the Government of Vietnam awarded her the Order of Resistance, First Class in 1984, and the Order of Friendship in 2004.

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