HA NOI — Noted literature professor Ha Minh Duc recently donated his private collection of nearly 10,000 documents and objects concerning Vietnamese writers and literature to the Vietnamese Scientists’ Heritage Centre.

The collection includes more than 4,000 handwritten notes and research drafts on writers such as Nam Cao (1915-1951), To Hoai (1920-2014), Xuan Dieu (1916-1985) and Nguyen Dinh Thi (1924-2003).

Prof Duc’s research career began in 1961 with his piece titled Nam Cao – Nha Van Hien Thuc Xuat Sac (Nam Cao – A Distinguished Writer on Realism).

Duc was awarded a State Prize in Literature and Arts in 2001 for his research Modern Vietnamese Literature and Theory, while his research on President Ho Chi Minh’s literature and journalism career bagged him the Ho Chi Minh Prize in Literature and Arts in 2012.

Duc was born in 1935 in Vinh Loc District in the central province of Thanh Hoa. He graduated from the Literature Department in Ha Noi’s Teachers’ Training College in 1957. He served as deputy head of the Literature Department (between 1987 and 1988) at today’s National University, head of the Journalism Department (1990-2000) and rector of the Literature Institute (1995-2003). — VNS