Vietnamese professor honoured by French academy

The honouring ceremony was held at the French Embassy in Hanoi on March 20.

Prof. Phan Huy Le, born 1934, is President of the Vietnam Association of Historical Science. He was elected as a foreign correspondent member of the academy in 2011.

In November 2011, the professor discovered by chance the only manuscript of the Vietnamese epic poem Luc Van Tien (The Story of Luc Van Tien) along with illustrations during a visit to the library of the Institute of France. It was in storage for the past 120 years and almost no one paid attention to the document’s existence or its value. 

Luc Van Tien was penned by the blind poet, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, in the “nom” script (the Chinese-based Vietnamese characters) in the 19th century. 

The Academy of Inscriptions and Bells-Letres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, archaeology, history and philology from the Ancient Times and Medieval to the Modern Times in a wide historical space stretching from Western Europe to the Far East. 

Established in 1663, the AIBL is one of the five prestigious academies of the Institute of France.