Two homelands, three talents and one big heart of Mr. Le Tu Minh

With Russia since childhood

Many things in Le Tu Minh's life are connected to Russia. Even the first book that Minh read at the age of 6 was written by a Soviet writer. This is the Vietnamese translation of Nikolai Nosov's wonderful children's book "The Adventures of Mit Dac and Friends". Then there is Aitmatov's "The First Teacher", Gamzatov's "My Dagestan" and many other works.
After graduating from the Faculty of Political Economy of Hanoi University, now the University of Economics of Hanoi University, Le Tu Minh taught political economy for 5 years at the Air Defense Artillery Officer School, now the Air Defense-Air Force Academy. In 1987, he was sent to study in Moscow, at the Lenin Military Academy (now the Moscow Military University).

"When we came to Russia, the Russians treated us like their own children. Russia taught us and raised us. And we received a lot from Russia, not only specialized knowledge but also knowledge of Russian literature, music and understanding of Russian culture. We are grateful to Russia for helping us win the war, for training a whole generation of Vietnamese people who later became economic, cultural and scientific leaders.

All Vietnamese who studied in Russia consider this country their second homeland, returning here is like returning to their homeland", - Mr. Le Tu Minh shared. Mr. Le Tu Minh lived in Moscow for 9 years: first as a student at the Military Academy, then as a graduate student at the Russian Academy of Sciences. After defending his PhD thesis in Economic Sciences, in 1996, he returned to Vietnam to do business. His knowledge is very useful for a country developing a market economy. Mr. Le Tu Minh has become a successful businessman, Chairman of IMG Investment Joint Stock Company.

The road to music was not easy
 

Mr. Le Tu Minh recalled: "One day, my good friend was very happy to inform me that he had been promoted to the rank of general. At that time, I decided to give him an unusual gift. During two sleepless nights, I translated into Vietnamese the Soviet song "Kalina Flower is Blooming" which we loved to sing when we were studying in Moscow. The song was recorded on television and was loved by the audience. A week later, I translated another Soviet song, "Hello Mom!" and these were my first steps into the wonderful world of music".

Mr. Le Tu Minh translated about twenty famous Soviet songs into Vietnamese, and he also translated songs from other languages. Translating songs is very difficult, because it is not only necessary to convey the content, character, and style of the song, but also to combine the lines of poetry into the melody.

Many of his poems were set to music by famous Vietnamese musicians such as Tuan Phuong, Duc Trinh, Xuan Phuong, and Do Hong Quan. But Le Tu Minh wanted to express himself in music, and he began to write the melodies for his poems.

Both listeners and experts loved Le Tu Minh's songs so much that, although he had no musical training, he was awarded for his contribution to the development of Vietnamese music and was admitted to the Vietnam Musicians' Association. However, Le Tu Minh later participated in a short-term training program in songwriting skills.
His songs became very famous, were performed at festivals, competitions, and received awards. One of his songs - Revival - was recently performed in Russian translation at the International Academic Music Festival in Adygea, a republic in southern Russia.

Compassionate

"The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of many people in Vietnam as well as around the world. And I composed the song Revival so that everyone can once again believe in the victory of life over death. Revival then the burned forests, Green shoots rise above the ashes. Revival then birds hesitantly call their friends, Drops of love suddenly soar across the sky."

When composing this song, I thought of Russia, where in winter all nature freezes under a thick layer of snow and is reborn in spring when the snow melts.

"Resurrection shows the strong power of life. We love revival, as well as Russia, the strong vitality of this country. This time I got to know another region of Russia - the Republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus. We were very happy with the warm welcome of the people here, some of them told us about their participation in protests against the Vietnam War, they loved and respected the Vietnamese people and invited me and musician Do Hong Quan to present our works first".

Mr. Le Tu Minh's poetry and music career is reflected in the book "Return" published last year. He gave Sputnik a copy of the book. On the pages of the book appears the image of the author - an honest, sincere, noble, grateful person, a patriot.

The book "Return" by writer Le Tu Minh

We tell about three talents of Le Tu Minh. But he also has one more talent, perhaps the most important one - kindness. He actively participates in humanitarian and charitable activities, supports educational institutions where he studied and sponsors the construction of the IMG Hue Center for Supporting and Developing Orphan Talents.

"I am a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam - Russia Friendship Association. When the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in Vietnam, we went to meet Russians living in Ho Chi Minh City, helping and supporting them," - said Mr. Le Tu Minh.

We know that in Vietnam there are many people like Mr. Le Tu Minh. And as long as they exist, the Russia - Vietnam friendship will not be interrupted.