Vu Quoc Uy

Vu Quoc Uy was born into a small intellectual family in the province of Nam Dinh. He was lucky to study in a Trung Thanh level school, so he soon felt sensitive to the cultural life and art of urban youth. He soon wished "to open a small bookshop and freely read the new books".

Actively acting in the field of culture and art, Vu Quoc Uy was suddenly arrested and put under house arrest by the French in 1944. In April 1945, he escaped from house arrest and intended to go to the liberation area in Viet Bac but was reassigned to Haiphong. After participation in a uprising in Hanoi, Vu Quoc Uy was once again assigned to Haiphong and gathered the forced and raised in army to seize power in August 23, 1945. As a title of a Chairman of Interim revolutionary people's committee of Haiphong, Vu Quoc Uy declared that the old authority was overthrown and then established the Interim revolutionary people's committee of Haiphong. Then he held concurrently Chairman of City defending committee. In precarious situation, Vu Quoc Uy and other member of Haiphong Party committees made the best of great solidarity though of Ho Chi Minh in daily directing and constantly determined "our top task is to built a whole people's solidarity block to advance revolutionary cause successful". Vu Quoc Uy was interested in building Haiphong Democratic Party committee as a member of it. After Haiphong-Kien An entered the resistance against the French colonialists, Vu Quoc Uy participated in inter-province Hai-Kien as a standing member, Head of disseminating and training department, and Director of To Hieu school. As these above positions, Vu Quoc Uy and the whole school staff overcame hard period in its Deo Voi branch in Dong Trieu district, Quang Yen province and other branches opened many training classes for 1000 staff, Party members to serve struggling task and seizing the city. After the South was absolutely liberated, Vu Quoc Uy was appointed Vice chairman and Chairman of Foreign affairs committee until his retirement.

To the Party and people of Haiphong city, Vu Quoc Uy prided on living and working 'in new hometown with heroic features'. With a confidentiality of an artist official, Vu Quoc Uy wrote his reminiscences such as 'I came back to Haiphong in the general uprising', 'Acting under the light of cultural platform' and 'Hard days in Deo Voi', ... On the occasion of 30th anniversary of liberation of Haiphong (May 13th, 1955 May 13th, 1985), Vu Quoc Uy wrote a volume of book named 'Sunrise on Cam River' to recall 500 days of Haiphong from uprising to struggling against the French colonialist (August, 1945 July, 1954) and with a task of writing on sea port land such as 'nop lan Dang liem cuoi cung cho Dang bo Haiphong'. On November 19th, 1994, Vu Quoc Uy died in regret of his comrades and people of Haiphong city where he considered as his hometown with heroic features.