MEMORIAL AREA OF GENERAL SECRETARY LE HONG PHONG

The memorial area of General Secretary Le Hong Phong in Hung Thong commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province is a place to keep the imprints of childhood, step-by-step growth and participating in revolutionary activities of comrade Le Hong Phong.

Comrade Le Hong Phong with real name is Le Huy Doan, born on September 6^th, 1902 in Dong village, Thong Lang canton (now hamlet 10, Hung Thong commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province), in a family with patriotic and studious tradition. Famous for his intelligence, but after finishing elementary school, because his father passed away, Le Hong Phong had to quit school to apply for a job to help support his family. Le Hong Phong soon contacted with progressive books and newspapers, witnessed with his own eyes the cruel oppression and exploitation of the feudal colonialists and the extreme suffering of the people losing their country. Since then, he was soon enlightened to the revolution and quickly integrated into the patriotic movement of Vinh - Ben Thuy workers.

In early 1924, he went to Thailand and found the way to Guangzhou (China), then was joined Tam Tam Xa organization, was selected by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc to participate in a special political training class and nominated to study at many prestigious schools such as: Hoang Pho Military Officer School (China), Air Force Military Theory School, Military Pilot Training School, Oriental University in the Soviet Union.

In March 1935 at the First Congress of the Indochinese Communist Party held in Macau (China), comrade Le Hong Phong was elected General Secretary. In July 1935, he led the delegation to attend Communist International Congress for 7^th time in Moscow and was elected to the Executive Committee of the Communist International.

In November 1937, Comrade Le Hong Phong secretly operated in Saigon, directly with the Party Central Committee in directing the revolutionary movement. While the revolutionary struggle movement was strongly increased, on June 22^nd, 1939, he was arrested by the French and sentenced to 6 months in prison and 3 years of arrest. After serving his prison term, they forced him to return to Nghe An to monitor and supervise. In January 1940, comrade Le Hong Phong was arrested for the second time, imprisoned in Kham Lon - Saigon and then exiled to Con Dao. In the colonial prison, he remained steadfast in his ideals, leading the prisoners to fight until the last breath and heroically sacrificed at noon on September 6^th, 1942 (ie July 26^th in the Year of the Horse). Before leaving, Comrade Le Hong Phong also reminded: "I thank the cadres to tell the Party that, until the last moment, Le Hong Phong still believes in the glorious victory of the revolution”

 Comrade Le Hong Phong, an excellent human of Nghe An homeland, an excellent student of Leader Nguyen Ai Quoc, the second General Secretary of the Party, with 40 years of age, more than 20 years of continuous revolutionary activities enthusiastically, comrade sacrificed his life for the revolutionary cause of Vietnam. The life and revolutionary career of Le Hong Phong and his close comrade, the gentle wife Nguyen Thi Minh Khai will live forever in the same river, the country, forever a pride, a exemplary example for us to learn and follow. The relic of General Secretary Le Hong Phong's memorial area was built on an area of 3,710m, formerly including: Mr. Cuu Soan's house (including a large house, a horizontal house) and Le Hong Phong's house (including a large house and a kitchen). Mr. Cuu Soan's house is structured in the style of a pillar with thatched roof, is where Le Hong Phong cried to be born and lived in the years of youth. Comrade Le Hong Phong's house is located in the southeast corner of the garden, consisting of a large house with 3 main rooms and 02 small rooms and 01 kitchen with 2 rooms with thatched roof. Over a long period of time, the impact of nature and the fluctuations of history, Mr. Cuu Soan's house was given to others to live in, while Le Hong Phong's own house was sold to another villager.

In order to be grateful for great merits of General Secretary Le Hong Phong, contributing to the education of patriotic traditions for generations, in 1988, the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An province directed the Culture - Information sector to restore, rebuild the house on the old ground and collect the lost artifacts for the memorial work of famous people. The restored house consists of a large house and a horizontal house according to the scale and architectural style of the old comrade Le Hong Phong's house. In addition, in the campus of the relic, there also built a house with modern architecture as a place to worship the family of Comrade Le Hong Phong. On March 13^th, 1990, the Ministry of Culture issued Decision No. 218/QD-VH ranking Comrade Le Hong Phong's memorial area as a national historical and cultural relic.

       Practically celebrating the 110^th birthday of General Secretary Le Hong Phong, the Party and the State have approved the policy, approved the project and invested in funds to preserve and embellish the original relic, expand the area, and build the memorial house and auxiliary items such as additional exhibition house, guest house, fish pond... The project items have been completed, handed over and put into use on the occasion of the 110^th birthday of the famous person (06 September 1902 – 06 September 2012) and is increasingly promoting its value.