Professor Tran Dai Nghia - The founder of Vietnamese science and technology

Not only was he an outstanding weapons manufacturer during the resistance war, Professor Tran Dai Nghia was also the one who laid the foundation for modern Vietnamese science and technology. From field mechanical workshops in the war zone to the strategic planning position for national scientific development, he was always present as a symbol of intelligence, humility and lifelong dedication to the nation. His life is a brilliant testament to the truth: True science always goes hand in hand with patriotism and the ideal of serving the Fatherland.

Enter the scientific front to help the country

Tran Dai Nghia's real name is Pham Quang Le, born and raised in Chanh Hiep commune, now Hoa Hiep commune, Tam Binh district, Vinh Long province, a countryside rich in patriotic and revolutionary traditions. Orphaned at the age of 7, his mother and sister worked hard to raise him and send him to school.

Pham Quang Le always remembered his father's advice: "You must study hard... you must know how to use your knowledge to help others." Absorbing that advice, Pham Quang Le never stopped learning. In his class, no one was as poor as Pham Quang Le, nor was anyone as good at studying as Pham Quang Le, especially in Math.

Pham Quang Le's patriotism was formed and nurtured early by the tradition of his heroic hometown Vinh Long, which had produced outstanding children who brought glory to his hometown and country. He saw that he could participate in the scientific and technological front to help the country, so he had an ambition to research weapons. That ambition was initiated when he was 17 years old while studying at My Tho school.

In the summer of 1933, Pham Quang Le passed two baccalaureate exams, one in the French baccalaureate and the other in the Vietnamese baccalaureate. In September 1935, he went to Ben Nha Rong to study in France. After years of diligent study, with his intelligence and determination, Pham Quang Le received three university degrees at the same time: Bridge and Road Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Mathematics. After that, he continued to get a degree in aeronautical engineering, a degree from the mining school and the polytechnic university.

Portrait of Pham Quang Le before studying in France, 1935.

Far from home, Pham Quang Le's heart always turned to the Fatherland. He secretly found ways and took advantage of every opportunity to learn about weapons technology abroad so that when the opportunity arose, he could return to the Fatherland to contribute to repelling foreign invaders.

In 1946, at the age of 33, leaving his job with a salary of 22 taels of gold/month, Pham Quang Le followed Uncle Ho back to the Fatherland after more than 11 years of studying and working in France. The name Tran Dai Nghia that Uncle Ho gave him that year was the name that brought him into the history of Vietnam's weapons manufacturing industry.

Uncle Ho once said that the resistance war was coming, today he called me here to give me the task of being the Director of the Military Armament Department. I am in charge of weapons for the troops to fight the enemy, your job is a noble job so from now on Uncle Ho named me Tran Dai Nghia.

During the resistance war against the French, he and his comrades overcame all difficulties and shortages, diligently researched and successfully manufactured a number of new, modern weapons with strong firepower to equip our army to defeat the enemy. At the same time, he well implemented Uncle Ho's directive on training a team of cadres with the capacity to design and manufacture new weapons.

In November 1946, he and his colleagues began to research and manufacture anti-tank guns based on the American Bazooka model. The work was not easy, with consecutive failures, but it did not discourage him. Finally, in February 1947, the Bazooka test was successful, the newly manufactured bullet penetrated a depth of 75cm on a brick wall, equivalent to the American-made Bazooka bullet. The appearance of the new weapon made the French army confused.

Wholehearted devotion to a great cause

Tran Dai Nghia recalled that one evening on the ship returning to the country, Uncle Ho asked, "Now that it's very hard at home, can you stand it?" "Yes, I can stand it." Uncle Ho asked again: Now that at home, there are no engineers, no weapons workers, and no machinery, can you do the job? Tran Dai Nghia said: "I have prepared for 11 years and I believe I can do it."

During 11 years in France, in addition to his eagerness to learn, diligence, intelligence and creativity, Tran Dai Nghia also set out for himself a method of approaching the knowledge and technology that needed to be acquired in order to be able to apply them to the reality of Vietnam and he did it. When he followed Uncle Ho back to the country, his luggage included 5 university degrees and more than 1 ton of documents on weapon manufacturing, 30,000 pages.

Directly assigned by Uncle Ho, engineer Tran Dai Nghia and many comrades built and developed the military weapons industry, manufacturing many new types of weapons in conditions of extreme shortage of materials and equipment, the most prominent of which were Bazooka guns and bullets, Skz recoilless rifles to help our army win on the battlefield. Engineer Tran Dai Nghia opened many training classes and fostered the theory and practice of weapon manufacturing for officers and workers in the military weapons industry in the early days of the resistance war.

After the Bazooka bullet, in 1948 and 1949, Tran Dai Nghia directed his colleagues in the Military Ordnance Department to research and manufacture a powerful gun, the SKZ recoilless gun.

To create modern weapons, contributing decisively to the victory in the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, in addition to his intelligence and creativity based on the knowledge he secretly and persistently researched for 11 years in France and Germany, the decisive factor was his ardent patriotism, dedication, and responsibility in work with a lifelong devotion to the cause.

Pioneer of modern Vietnamese science and technology

Prof. Dr. Tran Dai Nghia held the position of Chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology for 12 years (1965-1977), and was the first President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology from 1975 - the predecessor of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology today. He was also the first President of the Union of Science and Technology Associations. As an outstanding leader in the field of science and technology, Prof. Dr. Tran Dai Nghia made fundamental contributions, laying the foundation for the management of science and technology activities in our country. He is considered a pioneer in opening up the research direction on science and technology management, a very new field at that time.

The mark of Professor Tran Dai Nghia is always imprinted in the minds of Vietnamese intellectuals. His image, a gentle, simple, sincere person, has left many deep emotions in the hearts of those who have had the opportunity to meet him. Although he is a learned scientist with a noble academic degree, he is always modest and humble, often praising his colleagues such as Ta Quang Buu, Ton That Tung, and Le Van Thiem. It is his modesty and great personality that has made him an exemplary symbol of Vietnamese intellectuals.

Comrade Tran Dai Nghia and Military Industry officers viewed products produced by a defense factory, December 1968.

It is said that, behind the glories of his career, Professor Tran Dai Nghia wanted to return to a quiet life, but turning the pages of his diary from the first years to the last years of his life, the fire of a revolutionary soldier still burns in every stroke of ink written, those are the concerns about a country that has just gained independence and is trying to rise up.

Immediately after taking up the assignment, he directed and directly participated in the preparation for the Government Council to issue Directive 163/CP on the direction and tasks of science and technology work in 1966-1967 and for the Secretariat to issue Resolution 157/NQ-TU on strengthening science and technology work in the new situation and tasks. Prof. Dr. Tran Dai Nghia laid the foundation with the breakthrough point being Decision No. 175/CP in 1981 of the Government on allowing Institutes to sign economic contracts. This is considered "contract 10" in the field of science.

Not only was he the founder of science and technology management, Professor Tran Dai Nghia was also known as a scientist who made many direct contributions to the Vietnamese defense industry. Up to today, the Vietnamese People's Army has inherited his legacy, the lessons he taught on how to research and discover the weaknesses of enemy weapons, in order to create Vietnamese weapons suitable for Vietnamese conditions.

As the founder and leader of the Technical Research Department (NCKT), the first weapons design institute in Vietnam, he gathered many talented young intellectuals to the war zone, participating in the research, manufacturing and production of weapons in the extremely difficult conditions of the resistance war. Later, many of his young colleagues became leaders of the Party, the State, and leading scientists of the country. Among them were many direct teachers of generations of scientists in the defense industry, who not only imparted knowledge and experience to the next generation but also their enthusiasm for the profession of researching, designing and manufacturing weapons.

Although working in many fields, with different positions and jobs, wherever he is or in any circumstances, Professor Tran Dai Nghia always wholeheartedly serves the people and the country. His life of work and dedication has set a shining example of determination, personality, and dedication to work and scientific research.

Through his example, we see a whole generation of intellectuals - whether trained in developed countries or grown up in war zones - united, overcoming countless difficulties, to gradually lay the first bricks for modern Vietnamese science and technology, the foundation for an independent, self-reliant and increasingly far-reaching country.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/gs-tran-dai-nghia-nguoi-dat-nen-mong-cho-khoa-hoc-va-cong-nghe-viet-nam-197250925110721913.htm