ÃÂặng Phong (1937âÂÂ2010) was a Vietnamese economic historian.
Born in HàTây Province, ÃÂặng Phong graduated from Hanoi University in 1960 then National Economics University in 1964. He then worked as researcher at Vietnam Institute of Economics from 1961 to 2000. He also taught at the Hanoi University of Business and Technology from 1996 to 2009 and was a visiting lecturer to various universities outside Vietnam. Throughout his life, he wrote more than 30 academic works, many of which focus on Vietnam's economic history, its centrally planned economy period and its transition to market economy. He is regarded by some to have been "a living dictionary of Vietnam's economy" and a "top economic historian".
ÃÂặng Phong was born on November 4, 1937, in HàTây. He had a Bachelor of Arts in history at Hanoi University in 1960 and graduated from National Economics University, Planning Faculty in 1964.
ÃÂặng Phong worked as an economist specializing in economic history for Vietnam Institute of Economics. He also served as Vice Editor-in-chief of journal Tạp chàThá» trðá»Âng & Giá cả (Markets and Prices Review) during 1983âÂÂ1995, collaborator of French National Centre for Scientific Research, Chairman of the Euro Economic Subcommittee â Viet III, Amsterdam in 1997, consultant of Cuban Academy of Sciences. In 1988, State Committee for Markets and Prices assigned him to compete for a scholarship to France, which he won. He spent some time studying at Institut Agricole Méditerranéen in Montpellier.
While working on his book Kinh tế thá»Âi nguyên thủy á» Viá»Ât Nam, his wife sold emptied milk cans to buy champagne, rolls of cotton fabric, chocolate. ÃÂặng Phong then brought these to South Vietnam, selling them to earn living income. Upon Vietnam's reunification in 1975, he conducted research on Vietnam's economic history using the archive left behind by South Vietnam government. This is their researches, plans and strategies on developing agriculture, industry and education which ÃÂặng Phong deemed to be detailed and can serve as part of his own post-war development plan for Vietnam.
His book Lá»Âch sá» kinh tế Viá»Ât Nam was published in 2000, in a review for Lao ÃÂá»Âng the newspaper, Y Trang considered ÃÂặng Phong so far has been a non-notable historian, attributing the causes to economic history field not being much appreciated. Throughout his life, ÃÂặng Phong wrote many books and articles on Vietnam's economic history, economy of South Vietnam, the centrally planned economy period and the transition period to market economy. The book Tð duy Kinh tế Viá»Ât Nam was published in 2008, in which ÃÂặng Phong presented a systemic arrangement of Vietnam's economic mindset developments during 1975âÂÂ1989 together with critical documents from the Central Committee. According to ÃÂặng Phong, "economic mindset decides economic policies. Many of Vietnam's ups and downs depend on economic mindset." and the biggest difficulty is lacking research materials. In a review for Lao ÃÂá»Âng the newspaper, Y Trang described ÃÂặng Phong as a "lively and quite contemporary historian".
Having dedicated more than 40 years for academic researching, ÃÂặng Phong is called "a living dictionary of Vietnam's economy". Trần Phðáng saw ÃÂặng Phong as someone with "serious scientific manner", "digging diligently to the roots of the events in order to represent historical events faithfully". Nguyá» n Gia Kiá»Âng praised the diversity of documents, "accompanied by accurate and sharp judgments". During the preparation process, ÃÂặng Phong collected documents and had access to high-ranking politicians of the state. Economic professor Nguyá» n Thá» Hiá»Ân noted ÃÂặng Phong for having "a rich literary mind and a very sharp synthesis ability".
ÃÂặng Phong's book Chuyá»Ân ThÃÂng Long â HàNá»Âi qua má»Ât ÃÂðá»Âng phá» was published in 2010. It is a research on Lê Duẩn street in Hanoi, inspired by the book Histoire de Hanoi by French historian Philippe Papin. Writing for Tuá»Âi Trẻ Online, Thu Hàfound the familiar "calmness, depth of ÃÂặng Phong's scholarly and commentary style" can still be found in this book, yet in a "softer, more revealing" way. ÃÂặng Phong expressed his wish that the book become an anniversary work for the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi (which was later fulfilled).
ÃÂặng Phong taught at ÃÂại há»Âc Kinh doanh vàCông nghá» HàNá»Âi (HaNoi University of Business and Technology). He was also visiting lecturer at University of Aix-en-Provence (2007), University of Cambridge (2005), University of Macquarie, Sydney (1996, 2000), The Australian National University (1994), University of Irvine California (1994). After being called "professor" by Vietnamese media multiple times, ÃÂặng Phong clarified in 2017 that he is not a professor and has never been granted professor title.
ÃÂặng Phong's brother is ÃÂặng Và ©. His daughter is ÃÂặng Lê Chi.
ÃÂặng Phong died of illness on August 20, 2010. In December 2010, Chuyá»Ân ThÃÂng Long â HàNá»Âi qua má»Ât ÃÂðá»Âng phá» was launched on 100th day in memoriam of him. Prior to his death, he expressed his desire to write a book series about economic history and economic mindset of Vietnam with other Vietnamese economic historians.
One year after his death, Phan Châu Trinh Culture Foundation, Tri Thức Publishing House and Vietnam Institute for Economic & Policy Research co-organized a talk show in memory of ÃÂặng Phong. The talk show affirms his contributions to the economic history research field and confirms that his influence will continue to spread to younger academic generations.
ÃÂặng Phong dedicated more than 40 years of his life on researching. Many of his works are published as physical books, while many other are preserved.