My Teacher - A Time to Remember...

I met my teacher again on a chilly spring day. The ancient streets of Hanoi, full of nostalgia and tinged with the atmosphere of Tet (Vietnamese New Year), made the conversation between teacher and student seem to carry the flavor of bygone times...

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Truyen. (Photo: VGP)

My teacher, Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen, is a native of Hue, but his upbringing was deeply intertwined with Thanh Hoa province. He was born at the end of 1940, the year of the Metal Dragon. He grew up and studied in Hue, but in the first semester of his fourth year of high school, just before taking the "Diploma" exam (then called the "Diplôme"), he and his two siblings moved north with their mother to reunite with their father, a judge at the Tho Xuan District Court ( Thanh Hoa ). He lived in Tho Xuan during his youth, and later moved with his family to Thanh Hoa town. His upbringing, starting as a student at Tho Xuan Secondary School (1955-1956) and then at Lam Son High School in Thanh Hoa (1957-1960), was a memorable period for Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen.

In a conversation over a warm cup of coffee on a winter morning, he shared many memories from his high school days at the prestigious schools of Thanh Hoa province at that time. His mother, originally from Hue , had a small stall selling goods at the local market in Tho Xuan. Therefore, the then 15-16 year old Le Van Truyen, a junior high school student, helped his mother carry her baskets of goods to the markets in Tho Xuan district. Then, memories of the Chu River, Tho Xuan, and Thanh Hoa town in the past, of his years studying with friends at Tho Xuan junior high school, Thanh Hoa town junior high school, and Lam Son high school... will never fade from his memory.

In the book "To Remember, to Cherish - Memoirs of a Teacher," published on the teacher's 80th birthday, there are pages filled with memories: "I remember the road to Neo market, after passing a cemetery and climbing over the right bank dike of the Chu River, before me stretched an endless rice field. Early in the morning, bare feet treading on the grass on the dike or the paths along the fields, still damp with morning dew, a cool, refreshing feeling spread throughout my body. The rice stalks were shrouded in the rising morning mist, the distant villages hazy like a watercolor painting. In the middle of the field stood a bamboo grove, mainly planted with Thanh Hoa's specialty bamboo, the luong tree, providing cool shade. In the late afternoons, after returning from the market, people would often rest under the shade of the bamboo, chatting happily, offering each other a sip of green tea, a sweet potato, a piece of cassava, or, for something more luxurious, a piece of che lam candy, a famous local specialty of Thanh Hoa." Only someone who truly loves Thanh Hoa could write such heartwarming recollections about the rural areas of Thanh Hoa during a difficult time...

I am a former student of Hanoi University of Pharmacy, and a student of Professor Le Van Truyen, who taught Pharmaceutical Formulation for nearly 20 years, until 1986 when he was transferred to Hue to serve on the Board of Directors of the Binh Tri Thien Pharmaceutical Joint Enterprise. Meeting him again during the days when Thang Long (Hanoi) was awash in red flags and flowers celebrating the Party Congress, I recognized him instantly by his tall, thin figure—a figure he himself described as "taller than Westerners, thinner than Vietnamese" in his autobiography, "To Remember, to Cherish - Memoirs of a Teacher." Time had left its mark on his appearance, but deep within this man, who possessed both the gentle "Hue spirit" and the somewhat rugged "toughness" of a Thanh Hoa native, remained a profoundly sincere and erudite person.

Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen is a senior expert in Pharmacy, former Deputy Minister of Health, and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs, 9th term (1992-1997). He was a student of Pharmacy, Class 14 (1960-1964), at Hanoi Medical University and a postgraduate student at the University of Bucharest, Romania (1966-1971). After completing his doctoral dissertation in Pharmacy in Romania, Professor Le Van Truyen returned to Vietnam and taught for many years in the Pharmaceutical Technology Department at Hanoi Medical University. Not only did he impart knowledge to many generations of students, but he was also a co-author of the first Vietnamese-language textbook on Pharmaceutical Technology, a three-volume set (1972-1975), which has been used by many generations of pharmacy students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In early 1986, Mr. Le Van Truyen was transferred back to his beloved hometown to take on a new role as Deputy Director of the Binh Tri Thien Pharmaceutical Joint Enterprise, later becoming Director of the Thua Thien Hue Pharmaceutical Joint Enterprise. This was a challenging period of economic transition for the country, including the pharmaceutical industry. However, amidst difficulties and challenges, his intellect and sense of responsibility were further enhanced. Through his wholehearted dedication, research, and innovation, he and the enterprise's management team created new, highly regarded products at the time. Among them, the Tetracycline 1% eye ointment met the standards of the US Pharmacopoeia and was purchased by UNICEF Vietnam in millions of tubes to support the "Trachoma Eradication Program" for Vietnamese children, replacing imported medicine.

Professor Le Van Truyen's significant contributions to the pharmaceutical industry broadened his career path, leading him to become Deputy Minister of Health and a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health from June 1992 to June 2002. As Deputy Head of the Standing Committee for drafting the "National Drug Policy," with his scientific vision, he made numerous contributions to the development of drug policies submitted to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet for promulgation, which have served as guiding principles for the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry for decades. Although more than 30 years have passed, the basic contents of the National Drug Policy are still being implemented and applied by the Ministry of Health in the pharmaceutical industry's activities during the 2020-2030 period, with a vision to 2045.

In his scientific research activities, Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen has published numerous research articles in specialized journals, presented reports at domestic and international conferences and seminars, and led many research projects such as the State-level project "Creating a source of raw materials for medicine" (KY-02), "Improving the quality of medicine from medicinal herbs". He was the Deputy Head of the Project "Developing the production of Artemisinin from Artemisia annua" (Project Head Professor Pham Song, Minister of Health), a scientific work in the research cluster on antimalarial drugs that was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize in 2000...

This year, despite being 87 years old, he still dedicates much of his time to writing books, teaching, and presenting highly up-to-date papers at scientific conferences and seminars both domestically and internationally in the field of pharmaceuticals. He is also the founding Chairman of the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association (established in 2000) and the Honorary Chairman of the Vietnam Hospital Pharmacists Association (as of 2025).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Truyen (left) and the book "75 Years of the Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Industry - Years and Events (1945-2020)".

On a chilly morning in Thang Long, the thousand-year-old land of culture, I not only reminisced about the past but also received a valuable book, a must-read for generations of pharmacists, from Professor Le Van Truyen: "75 Years of the Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Industry - Years and Events (1945-2020)". This is an important publication recording the history of the development of the revolutionary Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry from 1945 to 2020; compiled by leading experts who have worked and dedicated themselves to the development of the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry. In particular, with his dedication and prestige, Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen, Senior Expert in Pharmacy, meticulously edited the manuscript and devoted considerable effort to ensuring this valuable document was published in 2024.

This nearly 1,000-page book is also the heartfelt dedication of Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Truyen to pharmacy students, generations of Vietnamese pharmacists, and readers interested in the pharmaceutical industry. He hopes this publication will serve as a beacon of tradition, inspiring the dedication of today's young generation to the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry and contributing to the healthcare of the people in the country's new era of development.

Le Quoc Thinh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thay-toi-mot-thoi-de-nho-276332.htm