Lý Tự Trọng

Lý Tự Trọng (20 October 1914 in Thailand^[1] – 21 November 1931 in Saigon) was a Vietnamese revolutionary executed by the French when he was only 17 years old.^[2] He is considered to be a revolutionary martyr. His remains were identified in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 and he was reburied in his parents home town Việt Xuyên commune of Thạch Hà district.^[3]

On February 9, 1931, during a rally celebrating the anniversary of the Yen Bai uprising in Le Grand Park in Saigon, Trong used a firearm to shoot at anti-Communist French secret police officials. He did this to protect Phan Bội Châu, who was in the midst of a speech during the rally. There was fear Phan Boi would be assassinated for the expository and Marxist-leaning content of his speech. He fled south as a fugitive. However, later Trong was arrested 10 days later in the town of Khám lớn Cần Thơ, about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Saigon. He was brought back to Saigon, hastily tried by French officials, and sentenced to death November 20, 1931. He was 17 years old.^[4] This event sparked a strong feeling of anger toward the French leadership within Communists all over Vietnam, citing cruel punishment unto Trong. He was viewed as a martyr and symbol of a victim of French brutality.^[5]

Ly Tu Trong Street in Saigon is named after him, removing the street's original name of "Duong Gia Long", named after the 18th century Vietnamese emperor who quashed the Tay Son rebels, unified and modernized Vietnam, and weakening French influence on the country, by the previous South Vietnamese government. The street includes the former US AID building famous as the location of the helipad evacuation in 1975.

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