Pham Van Van, 88, living in Ha Long City, has spent half his lifetime collecting photos of Ho Chi Minh. People of Ha Long will have a chance to enjoy the 3,200 valuable pictures of President Ho Chi Minh from May 15-19 at his exhibition.
Pham Van Van and his unique collection of Uncle Ho
Speaking with us on May 15 at his private house at No.8, Vu Van Hieu Road, Ha Long City, where the exhibition has been held, Van warmly welcomed us and took us to see his priceless assets collected over many years.
Although a heavy rain was falling in the morning, many officials and local people tried to visit the very special exhibition.
Veteran Pham Van Van shared, “It took him a month to prepare for this exhibition and his half lifetime to collect such a large photo collection.”
Van was born in 1922 at Luu Kiem Commune, Thuy Nguyen District, Hai Phong City. He joined guerilla and revolutionary activities from the time he was young. He moved to Quang Ninh Province in 1963 and worked for Ha Tu Coal mine (which is now Ha Tu Coal Company in Ha Long City). He was appointed as head of the Anti-aircraft Gun Team from 1970 to 1972.
Van cannot remember all the places he had been to find and collect pictures of Uncle Ho, he knows that he has gone to anyplace where Uncle Ho had set foot or that has documents related to Uncle Ho.
Van said that he had to find the photos from many sources to put together the priceless collection. In addition to long journeys, he spent his own money buying a lot of books and documents talking about revolutionary life of Uncle Ho. Among his collection, there are books worth millions of dong and documents published a decade ago.
Pham Van Thanh, the first son of Van said, “My father always cut out any photo of Uncle Ho if he found them in newspapers or documents and he kept them very carefully. He even brought damaged pictures to a photo shop to restore.”
Van has spent almost all of his time on collecting pictures of Uncle Ho, he is also married with seven children who his wife has always taken care of when her husband is busy pursuing his passion.
Van’s wife said, “He often goes far away from home for several days or for a half month each time. He comes back home with many boxes of documents and pictures. Sometimes when he does not have money for long journeys, he bicycles here and there to find Uncle Ho’s pictures.”
His huge collection includes pictures when Uncle Ho lived abroad and when he returned to lead the country during the French and American wars.
He also donated many precious documents about Uncle Ho to Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hanoi museums.
Van said, “Collecting pictures of Uncle Ho is my passion and also is a way I showed my love to Uncle Ho. I will stop doing this only when I cannot walk.”
Several organisations have recognised this collection and his highly meaningful actions, sending him letters praising and congratulating.
It took Van a month to prepare for the exhibition…
…he spent a half lifetime on such a big collection on Uncle Ho
