The Most Famous
SOCIAL ACTIVISTS from Vietnam
This page contains a list of the greatest Vietnamese Social Activists. The pantheon dataset contains 840 Social Activists, 2 of which were born in Vietnam. This makes Vietnam the birth place of the 48th most number of Social Activists behind Hong Kong, and Somalia.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Vietnamese Social Activists of all time. This list of famous Vietnamese Social Activists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Lê Đức Thọ (1911 - 1990)
With an HPI of 67.68, Lê Đức Thọ is the most famous Vietnamese Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 55 different languages on wikipedia.
Lê Đức Thọ (Vietnamese: [lē ɗɨ̌k tʰɔ̂ˀ] ; 14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), born Phan Đình Khải in Nam Dinh Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary general, diplomat, and politician. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, but refused the award.
2. Thích Quảng Đức (1897 - 1963)
With an HPI of 66.62, Thích Quảng Đức is the 2nd most famous Vietnamese Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.
Thích Quảng Đức (chữ Hán: 釋廣德, Vietnamese: [tʰǐk̟ kʷâːŋ ɗɨ̌k] ; born Lâm Văn Túc; c. 1897 – 11 June 1963) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who died by self-immolation at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quảng Đức was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm, a staunch Roman Catholic. Photographs of his self-immolation circulated around the world, drawing attention to the policies of the Diệm government. John F. Kennedy said of one photograph, "No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one". Malcolm Browne won the World Press Photo of the Year for his photograph of the monk's death. Quảng Đức's act increased international pressure on Diệm and led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. However, the promised reforms were not implemented, leading to a deterioration in the dispute. As protests continued, the ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm's brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, launched raids across South Vietnam on Buddhist pagodas, seizing Quảng Đức's heart and causing deaths and widespread damage. Several Buddhist monks followed Quảng Đức's example, also immolating themselves. Eventually, a US-backed coup toppled Diệm, who was assassinated on 2 November 1963.
3. Peter Nguyen Van Hung (b. 1958)
With an HPI of 44.77, Peter Nguyen Van Hung is the 3rd most famous Vietnamese Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Peter Nguyen Van Hung (Vietnamese: Phêrô Nguyễn Văn Hùng; Chinese: 阮文雄; pinyin: Ruǎn Wénxióng; born 1958) is a Vietnamese Australian Catholic priest and human rights activist in Taiwan. He was recognized by the United States Department of State as a "hero acting to end modern day slavery".
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Vietnamese social activists born between 1897 and 1958. Of these 3, 1 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Vietnamese social activists include Peter Nguyen Van Hung. The most famous deceased Vietnamese social activists include Lê Đức Thọ, and Thích Quảng Đức. As of April 2024, 1 new Vietnamese social activists have been added to Pantheon including Peter Nguyen Van Hung.
