Precious painting of doctor A.Yersin

Mr. Dong Luong Son, Chairman of the Association of Admirers of Doctor A. Yersin, said that 4 years ago, a resident on Dang Tat Street, Vinh Phuoc Ward, Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa) brought this painting as a gift with the hope that the association would preserve, conserve and promote the values that the doctor left for the people of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa in particular and the world in general.

The painting is 70 x 50 cm in size, painted with oil paint. In the painting, Dr. A. Yersin wears a black nightgown-like shirt with a white collar, a white beard, and a lot of hair loss, showing that he is now on the other side of life's slope.

According to Mr. Son, when he brought it as a gift, this person said that the age of the painting was unknown, nor did he know who the author was, but only knew that his great-grandfather had kept this painting in his house since his grandfather's time.

Realizing that this was a valuable painting of Dr. A. Yersin, after receiving it, Mr. Son asked painters and experts in Ho Chi Minh City to appraise it. Based on the material, oil paint color, and the features on the doctor's body, the experts all determined that this painting must be over 80 years old.

Bức tranh quý về bác sĩ A.Yersin- Ảnh 1. — Oil painting portrait of doctor A.Yersin

“In the past, painters painted portraits in the style of portraiture, so they painted very realistically. With what is shown, we can guess that he (Dr. A. Yersin - NV ) is over 75 years old at this time. Many experts and painters also confirm that this is a very rare painting of Dr. A. Yersin,” said Mr. Son. Recently, on the occasion of the 161st anniversary of Dr. A. Yersin's birth, Mr. Son introduced the painting to the delegates for the first time.

Mr. Dong Luong Son added that in addition to the oil painting mentioned above, the association is also preserving other memorabilia such as a seal, an oil lamp and many valuable documents and images of Dr. A. Yersin. "We hope that people who still have artifacts about Dr. A. Yersin will donate them to the association and the association will return them all to the Yersin Museum after the museum is built," Mr. Son said.

In July 2024, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee approved the outline and tasks of the project to build the Yersin Museum. The proposed location for the museum is in the area of Guest House 378 (belonging to the Ministry of Public Security ), adjacent to Yersin Park, on Tran Phu Street, with a total area of over 5,700 ^m2 ; the project implementation period is from 2024 to 2030. The museum will be a unique architectural work in the province, a center for preserving, conserving, scientific research, collecting, displaying and introducing the cultural heritage of this doctor.

Doctor A. Yersin was born on September 22, 1863 in the mountainous region of Lavaux, Vaud County, Switzerland and died on March 1, 1943 at his home in Nha Trang City, at the age of 80. Today, many streets, parks, schools... across the country bear his name. In 2013, Doctor A. Yersin was posthumously awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Vietnam by the Government.