The story of a prestigious family with 8 brothers who are famous Vietnamese scientists

Seven children of Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Lan: Nguyen Lan Tuat, Nguyen Lan Dung, Nguyen Lan Cuong, Nguyen Lan Hung, Nguyen Lan Trang, Nguyen Lan Viet, Nguyen Lan Trung (Photo: Provided by the character).

Scientist with "golden hands" sets record

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung, younger brother of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong, sat silently looking at the family photos. He could not hide his emotions when thinking about his brother who had just left this world.

Sharing with reporters, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung said that the passing of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong was a great loss for his family. The family members were both heartbroken and regretful that Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong discovered his illness too late.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung, about 3 months ago, Professor Nguyen Lan Viet - former Principal of Hanoi Medical University, former Director of Vietnam Heart Institute - noticed that Mr. Cuong had unusual signs of health, so he forced his brother to go see a doctor.

"Screening tests revealed that my brother had late-stage stomach cancer. The family was sad to hear the news. However, Cuong still encouraged everyone, "It's okay." He also told funny stories so the family wouldn't have to worry.

Perhaps, my brother believed in science and was always optimistic that the disease would pass. We are very sorry that our family is a medical family but he discovered the disease at such a dangerous stage," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung confided.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung, among his siblings, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong is the most enthusiastic. He always brings laughter to family members and unites the siblings in the house. Everyone loves him for his cheerfulness and optimistic spirit.

Although he is over 80 years old, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong still rides his motorbike to work. When his children and grandchildren offered to take him for safety, he jokingly said, "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom. Being self-reliant is still the happiest."

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong is a famous Vietnamese scientist. His name is associated with the field of anthropology. He was awarded the Vietnamese record certificate by the Vietnam Record Organization "The person who researched the most ancient human remains in Vietnam (1,093 individuals)".

With decades of passion for his work, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong is not afraid of the sun, wind, and rain, traveling to many relics, regions, and caves to collect traces of ancient people, in order to restore and preserve past values.

After the hardships on the archaeological site, the sleepless nights in the office, he had moments of sublimation with music in the role of a musician. In him, people saw a dedicated, persistent, honest, sincere scientist; a musician burning with passion.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong has published many valuable studies on human skulls and ancient remains.

For Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung in particular and experts in general, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong is a person with "golden hands" who has meticulously restored thousands of skulls and ancient remains.

Many skulls were broken into hundreds of pieces and had to be reassembled for research. Many took him months to reconstruct but had to be taken apart because when they got to the piece at the top of the head, it didn't fit...

That difficult work was still completed by Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong and contributed many valuable studies to Vietnamese science. Scientists therefore highly appreciate the meticulousness and patience of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong.

"Many scientists and officials of the Institute of Archaeology all acknowledge that my brother is an outstanding person in the field of research on skulls and ancient human remains. He was also the one who discovered the form of burial statues when researching the flesh bodies of two monks at Dau Pagoda and led the group of scientists who restored these two statues in 2003...

Most recently, his book What does the human skeleton tell us? won the B prize at the 7th National Book Award in 2024," Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung told about his brother's passion for science and contributions.

A few months before discovering his fatal illness, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong was still working hard at the Vuon Chuoi site (in Kim Chung, Hoai Duc, Hanoi) to excavate hundreds of skeletons.

This ancient cemetery gathers burials from the pre-Dong Son period (late Phung Nguyen, early Dong Dau - about 4,000 years ago) and Dong Son (about 2,000 years ago). With the research here, he hopes to decode history, proving the very early presence of humans in the area of ​​present-day Hanoi.

Most of his life is devoted to science, but in his spare time, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong drifts away on soaring musical notes.

Mr. Nguyen Lan Trung shared that when he was young, his brother was famous among Hanoi students as the "leader" of the choir of Ly Thuong Kiet 3A High School (now Viet Duc High School), and soon had compositions that won prizes in competitions among students.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung said that all his brothers have a passion for music, but besides the eldest brother Nguyen Lan Tuat, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong is the one who composes the most.

"My brother has been awarded 20 national music awards and is also the Permanent Vice President of the Hanoi Music Association. In recent years, my brother has appeared on many stages in Hanoi. That shows that he is a very young and happy soul, always bringing enthusiasm, freshness and joy to everyone," Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung said.

From left to right: Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung, Professor Nguyen Lan Viet, Dr. Nguyen Lan Trang, scientist Nguyen Lan Hung, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong, Professor Nguyen Lan Dung (Photo: Provided by the character).

Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung also said that he has many memories with his brother. One of the memories he can never forget is the time he "rescued" him when he was "stuck" at sea.

That time, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong was excavating a cave at sea in Quang Ninh but unfortunately fell. He immediately called Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung without knowing that his brother was also in Quang Ninh at that time. Mr. Trung immediately asked his friends to send a boat to take his brother to the mainland for emergency treatment.

On the boat to shore, despite the severe leg injury (later determined to be a broken fibula) and the pain, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong still enthusiastically talked about the cave and the artifacts he had collected... At that time, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung both felt pity and admiration for his brother who was passionate and devoted to science.

The wonderful son in the legendary family of Vietnamese scholars

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong is the 4th child, and Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung is the 8th child of People's Teacher Nguyen Lan.

The late Professor, People's Teacher, famous Vietnamese dictionary compiler and scholar Nguyen Lan (1906-2003) devoted his whole life to Vietnamese education.

People's Teacher Nguyen Lan was born into a poor family in My Hao district, Hung Yen. Later, when he took the entrance exam to Buoi school, he received a full scholarship. In 1925, while still a high school student, he wrote his first novel, "Country Boy". He is considered to have made great contributions to the establishment of the psychology and pedagogy department and faculty of the system of pedagogical schools in Vietnam.

Family of Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Lan.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong and his siblings followed their father's example to create a legendary family of scholars, building the most prestigious and talented family in Vietnam. Rarely does a family have 8 children who are all professors, associate professors, doctors, and scientists like the family of the late Professor Nguyen Lan.

Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung shared that, thanks to that, he and his brothers always respect and are grateful to their father.

He said: "My father never forced his children, but only gave suggestions. He never beat or scolded my brothers and me, but only explained what was right and wrong. In the family, members were united and followed each other's example.

If my father sat at his desk, Lan Dung would automatically sit at his desk to study. If Lan Dung studied, Lan Cuong, Lan Viet, and Lan Trung would also see it and do it themselves without having to be reminded...

The same goes for our children and grandchildren. Family members always encourage and advise each other to study, the older generation continues to set an example for the younger generation. The extended family becomes an example for the smaller families."

The eight brothers in Nguyen Lan's family all became teachers with the desire to help others, actively participating in associations to bring practical activities to the community as their father advised.

Many people cannot help but admire the unique academic achievements of Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Cuong and Nguyen Lan Trung and believe that this extended family has a special secret in education.

However, Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung shared that his family is just like any other family, the spirit throughout the generations is to always promote the family factor in education, creating examples in their own family, one person looking at another, from good habits creating a natural routine.

"As the youngest child in the family, I look to my father and my siblings to learn. There are things that my father does not forbid, but when I see that my father does not do them, my brother does not do them, I automatically avoid them," Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung said.

Mr. Trung still remembers his time as a student studying education. Every month, in addition to his scholarship, Mr. Lan Dung gave him 10,000 VND and Mr. Lan Cuong gave him 5,000 VND. Later, his younger brother Lan Viet was also protected by his older brothers.

The bond and love that form a family tradition make his brothers always cherish and be grateful.

"The educational tradition in my family is not great, but the older generation sets an example for the younger generation and the older generation shares and exchanges everything equally with the younger generation," Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Trung emotionally told the story of his extended family and especially about his recently deceased brother with both nostalgia and pride for what he had devoted to science and music.

Successful children of Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Lan

- Dr. Nguyen Lan Tuat (deceased), former Head of the Department of Theory and Composition of the Novoxibiec Conservatory - Russia, the first Vietnamese to be awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

- Dr. Nguyen Te Chinh (deceased), former lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University.

- Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Lan Dung, former Director of the Center for Applied Microbiology, National Assembly delegate of Vietnam, terms X, XI, XII, university lecturer, lecturer at the University of Natural Sciences, member of the Central Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

- Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong, General Secretary of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, Permanent Vice President of the Hanoi Music Association, Vice President of the Vietnam Paleontological and Stratigraphic Association, Head of the Inspection Board of the Hanoi Literature and Arts Association, lecturer at Hanoi National University.

- Scientist Nguyen Lan Hung, General Secretary of Vietnam Biological Association, lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University.

- Dr. Nguyen Lan Trang, lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

- Dr. People's Teacher, Hero of Labor Nguyen Lan Viet, former Principal of Hanoi Medical University, former Director of Vietnam Heart Institute, Former Head of Cardiology Department - Hanoi Medical University, Vice President of Vietnam Heart Association.

- Dr. Nguyen Lan Trung, former Vice President of University of Foreign Languages ​​- Vietnam National University, Hanoi, President of Vietnam Linguistics Association, President of Vietnam - France Friendship Association of Hanoi city.

The 3rd and 4th generations of People's Teacher Nguyen Lan continue to inherit the tradition of the two previous generations, with many successful people such as: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu, National Assembly Delegate, Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital; Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Hung Son - Head of Biology Department, Hanoi National University of Education; Associate Professor Nguyen Ngoc Luu Ly, University of Foreign Languages...

In total, Nguyen Lan's extended family, including sons-in-law, now has about 20 professors, associate professors, and doctors.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/chuyen-ve-gia-dinh-danh-gia-co-8-anh-em-la-nha-khoa-hoc-noi-tieng-viet-nam-20250506233343544.htm