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On the occasion of the 100th birthday (August 23) of Madeleine Riffaud, a French communist journalist and close friend of the Vietnamese people, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang visited and presented souvenirs and congratulatory letters to her to express deep gratitude for her contributions to the Vietnam-France friendship.

In the letter, Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang emphasized the great contributions of Madeleine Riffaud to the struggle for independence and national reunification, considering her a "model of dedication and altruism," devoting her whole life to protecting justice and peace.

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang visits Madeleine Riffaud on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of France-Vietnam relations in 2023. Photo: VNA

Thang expressed his gratitude for the contributions of generations of French comrades and friends, including Riffaud, to important historical milestones in the relationship between the two countries such as the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between Vietnam and France, as well as major commemorative events in Vietnam such as the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory and the Geneva Agreement, the 50th anniversary of national reunification and the 80th anniversary of the National Day of Vietnam.

The diplomat stressed the love and loyalty of her and her French friends have been and continue to be a source of encouragement and support for Vietnam in the cause of national construction and defense and strengthening relations with friendly countries.

Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang also presented Riffaud with a photo of her with President Ho Chi Minh at the Presidential Palace on September 19, 1966, during her time as a war correspondent and representative of newspaper L'Humanité of the French Communist Party in Vietnam.

A photo of Madeleine Riffaud with President Ho Chi Minh at the Presidential Palace on September 19, 1966, during her time as a war correspondent and representative of L'Humanité of the French Communist Party in Vietnam.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Embassy in France handed over Riffaud a congratulatory letter from the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations, the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) and the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association.

VUFO President Phan Anh Son, in his congratulatory message, recalled the articles and books that Madeleine Riffaud wrote when she was a war correspondent in Vietnam, considering them valuable documents for the world's people to better understand the war period in Vietnam, the lives and sacrifices and pain that Vietnamese soldiers and people had to go through.

Expressing his emotion about the affection, care and active support that Riffaud always gave to the Vietnamese people in the process of national building and development, the VUFO President affirmed "the gratitude, affection, gratitude and admiration of the Vietnamese people for her - a symbol of the beauty of the soul and the strength of justice - cannot be fully expressed in words."

On behalf of the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association, its President Nguyen Thuy Anh, in her congratulatory letter highlighted "decades have passed since Vietnam gained freedom and peace after countless painful losses caused by continuous war, the Vietnamese people have never forgotten the great friends who devoted themselves to the cause of peace and national reunification. Madeleine Riffaud remains in our hearts as a great friend."

"Her life of action is a symbol of courage and humanism, of loyalty and perseverance in pursuing the values ​​of peace and brotherhood. Her great and profound love for Vietnam through her tireless struggles for peace and unification of Vietnam, her works about Vietnam, her ideal of a better world that she pursued throughout her life...became a legacy of solidarity and friendship between the Vietnamese and French peoples," wrote the letter.

"Even now, when hatred and war continue in many parts of the world, her humanism, tolerance and fighting example still inspire us in our daily lives. As the inheritors of the long-standing friendship between the Vietnamese people and the French people initiated by Ho Chi Minh and his French comrades, the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association, myself and other members are proud to continue to expand and deepen this noble mission," noted Thuy Anh.

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.

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