A memory of Vera Vaxilieva, a scholar on Vietnamese study

11/05/2006
From 1925 to 1939, there were around 60 Vietnamese students who studied at the Communist Synthetic University, rendering for oriental laborers (KUTV), Institute for Peoples and Colonies belonging to KUTV (NIINKP) and Lenin International School.

Lecturers for Vietnamese students were Vera Iakovlepna Vaxilieva teaching about Party construction and Indochinese issues, A.L.Radumova, who taught about the Party’s work and Italian Professor Etmondo Peludo, who specialised in modern history and International Communist history. Vietnamese students and postgraduates were also lecturers at these universities. Their names were Nguyen Khanh Toan (alias as Minin), who studied the Farmers’ war in Indochina during the 18th century-Tay Son up-rising as well as tought in politics and economics, Nguyen Ai Quoc (alias as Lin), who studied the Agricultural Revolution in South East Asian countries and tought in Indochinese study.

 

Apart from teaching, Vera Iakovlepna Vaxilieva also took charge of the Vietnamese students’ class in KUTV, Head of Department o­n Indochinese and Thai Land studies in NIINKP.

 

Students from Vietnam as well as Indonesia, Japan, China, the Arab nations, all lived in a dormitory like a family. Wishing to return to the fatherland, they actively participated in the revolution work. Like Soviet people, they were all involved in Communist Saturdays and traveled to manufacturing establishments to join thousands of Moscow’s people to demonstrate o­n Gorki road full of flowers and slogans. In the evenings, they went to the central cinema o­n Puskin quarter to see movies about the Spanish warfront, sharing the happiness and grief of Spanish soldiers in the war against the Fascists. The legendary film “Tsapaev” was a favourite, with many of them seeing it again and again.

 

Vera Vaxilieva always stood side by side with the Vietnamese students in these above activities and left excellent impressions o­n them. Beyond that, she also left her autograph in the “Work Allocation Plan in 1973” document (archived in the International Communist File) with her signature at tasks assigned to such Vietnamese staff as Nguyen Ai Quoc (Lin) and Nguyen Khanh Toan (Minin) to name a few.

 

According to Russia’s file, in 1950, after the Cao Bac Lang Border Liberation Campaign, President Ho Chi Minh paid a visit to Moscow to exchange work with Russia’s Communist Party and State. In this visit, President Ho Chi Minh had the chance to meet his chief and colleague in NIINPK during 1937-1938, Vera Vaxilieva. Afterwards, Vera Vaxilieva was inspired to do thorough research o­n the revolution in Vietnam and the history of Vietnam. She sent a letter showing her intentions to President Ho Chi Minh andreceived a letter from the President dated August 4, 1958. The letter is now kept by Vera Vaxilieva’s nephew but is available to the public:

 

Dear Vaxilieva,

 

I have received your letter and project sent from Comrade Nguyen Khanh Toan. Sincerely thank you for that!

 

Vietnam’s Comrades and I warmly welcome your visit to Vietnam. I fully believe you will make great contribution to Vietnam’s science course. We have determined that the Department ofResearch o­n Literature, History and Geography - Ministry of Culture of Democratic Republic of Vietnam will be responsible for inviting you to Vietnam.

 

Regards to the book greeting the 15th anniversary of Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam’s scientists will study and directly respond to you. It is a great pleasure that Vietnam’s Comrades will cooperate with scientists of the Soviet Union and make their efforts in this matter.

 

Wish you a good health.

 

Ho Chi Minh

 

Since teaching at NIINLP in the 1930’s, Vera Vaxilieva along with other professors like A.A Guber, Novikov Mkhitarian has done research o­n Vietnam that has directly affectied and shaped Vietnamese study as an independent science sector in the Soviet Union. Since the 1960s, Vietnamese study in the Soviet Union has seen strong and encouraging development.

 

Being o­ne of the first scholars o­n Vietnamese study in the Soviet Union, Vera Vaxilieva has made a contribution to the sector with her experiences and thorough research projects. In April 1959 Vera visited Beijing for the second time with the intention of then visiting Hanoi. Unfortunately, Vera passed away unexpectedly before she had the chance. Her death was a great loss to the education of Science in the Soviet Union as well as the study of Vietnam which has just started. Her death also signified a great loss for the friendship and solidarity between the nations of Vietnam and Russia.

Information Center
Translated by Int’l Relations Department

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