Nông ÃÂức Mạnh (; born 11 September 1939) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the most powerful position in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011. His parents were Tày peasants. Nông ÃÂức Mạnh was born in Cðá»Âng Lợi, Na Rì District, Bắc Kạn Province. His son Nông Quá»Âc Tuấn is the party secretary for Bắc Giang Province.
It has long been rumoured that Nông ÃÂức Mạnh is the illegitimate son of Há» ChàMinh (1890âÂÂ1969) and Nông Thá» Trðng (1921âÂÂ2003), Há»Â's housekeeper from 1941âÂÂ42. This story may have been a factor in his selection as party leader. In a profile of Mạnh published in the official press immediately after he gained this position, Nông Thá» Trðng was identified as his mother.
Nông ÃÂức Mạnh's official biography gives his date of birth as 11 September 1939 and states that he was born to a peasant family from the Tày ethnic minority when Há» ChàMinh was still in China. Ho returned to Vietnam in February 1941 and met Trðng in July. Há» wrote a four-line poem for Trðng in 1944, and gave her a notebook as "a token of my love". This poem was later taught to elementary school students.
In April 2001, shortly after Nông ÃÂức Mạnh was named as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a reporter at a news conference asked him to confirm or deny the rumor. He responded, "All Vietnamese people are the children of Uncle Há»Â." When asked again about the rumor in January 2002 by a Time Asia reporter, he denied he was Há»Â's son and stated that his father was named Nông VÃÂn Lại and his mother Hoàng Thá» Nhá»Â.
In 1958âÂÂ61, Nông ÃÂức Mạnh attended the Hanoi Higher School. From 1962âÂÂ63, he worked as a forestry supervisory technician in the Bắc Kạn Forestry Service. He joined the Communist Party on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964. From 1963âÂÂ65, Mạnh was the deputy chief of the Bạch Thông wood exploitation team; he later returned to his studies, learning Russian at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College (from 1965âÂÂ66). He traveled to Leningrad, where he studied at the Forestry Institute until 1971. After returning to Vietnam, he became the deputy head of the Bắc Thái provincial forestry inspection board.
From 1973âÂÂ74, Nông ÃÂức Mạnh served as director of the Phú Lðáng State Forestry Camp in Bắc Thái province. From 1974âÂÂ76, he studied at the Nguyá» n ÃÂi Quá»Âc High-Level Party School. From 1976âÂÂ80, he served as the deputy director of the provincial forestry service and director of the construction company of the provincial forestry service. Rising through the party ranks, Mạnh was a member of the Bắc Thái Provincial Party Committee from 1976âÂÂ83. In 1984, he was named deputy secretary of the committee, and in November 1986, the secretary of the committee. At the 6th National Congress he was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee. At the sixth party plenum in March 1989, he was elevated to full central committee member. Since 1991, he has been in the politburo. From 23 September 1992, he was Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, thereby being one of the youngest when standing on the stage of honor of a Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam.
Nông ÃÂức Mạnh was selected General Secretary of the Communist Party in April 2001. His term was renewed in April 2006. He retired on 19 January 2011 after 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He is the first Vietnamese party head with a university degree. He announced his plans for Vietnam's future as an industrialised country, to be completed by 2020.