Renowned cultural scholar Huu Ngoc passed away on the evening of May 2, at the age of 107, according to poet and journalist Nguyen Nhu Mai.

“On December 24, 2024, I visited to wish him a happy birthday, but by then he was already slipping away, no longer responsive,” wrote Nguyen Nhu Mai on his personal page.

“Huu Ngoc was a towering cultural figure and a witness to history. As a member of the Huu Ngoc Cultural Foundation, I respectfully inform those who knew him, friends and devoted readers, that his funeral will take place at 1 PM on May 5 at the Funeral House of 198 Hospital, Tran Binh Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi.”

Huu Ngoc was born in 1918 in Hanoi. He was fluent in French, English, and German, and could read classical Chinese. He authored dozens of influential books on Vietnamese culture, helping to present the richness and depth of Vietnam’s cultural heritage to the world.

He translated numerous acclaimed works of international literature into Vietnamese, including Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and also wrote books that introduced foreign cultures to Vietnamese readers. Additionally, he compiled and authored works on Vietnamese culture in both French and English to share globally.

Huu Ngoc held several important editorial positions, including editor-in-chief of foreign-language publications such as Tia Lua (in French), Vietnam Advances (in English, French, and Esperanto), Vietnamese Studies (in English and French), and served for many years as Director of Vietnam’s Foreign Languages Publishing House.

He received many prestigious awards and honors from both Vietnam and abroad, including the Vietnamese Order of Independence, the Order of Military Merit, France’s Order of Academic Palms, Sweden’s Order of the Polar Star, the 2017 Bui Xuan Phai Grand Prize - For the Love of Hanoi, and the Vietnam National Book Award.

Tinh Le