List of spouses of Vietnamese presidents

This is a list of spouses of the presidents of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Phu nhân Chủ tịch nước Việt Nam). The position is sometimes informally called First Lady of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Đệ nhất Phu nhân Việt Nam).^[3][4]

Spouse of the president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Incumbent Ngô Phương Ly since 22 May 2024
Style	Her Excellency[1] Madam[2]
Status	de facto
Residence	Presidential Palace, Hanoi
Inaugural holder	Đoàn Thị Giàu
Formation	2 September 1969; 55 years ago (1969-09-02)
Unofficial names	First Lady of Vietnam
Salary	Undisclosed
Website	Office of the President

There have been 12^[a] people holding this title since 1969.^[b] the current spouse of the president since May 2024 is Ngô Phương Ly the wife of President Tô Lâm.

Role and duties

The role of the president's spouse is not an official position, and so they are not given a salary or official duties. Nonetheless, the spouse usually participates in humanitarian and charitable work, and accompanies the president in state visits and entertaining foreign leaders.

Spouses of the presidents of Vietnam

No.	Portrait	Name	Tenure began	Tenure ended	President
Spouses of the president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
—	Vacant[c]		2 September 1945	2 September 1969	Hồ Chí Minh
—		Nguyễn Thị Sắt[5] 1881 – 1953	29 May 1946	21 October 1946	Huỳnh Thúc Kháng (Acting)
1		Đoàn Thị Giàu[3] 1898 – 1974	2 September 1969	25 May 1974†	Tôn Đức Thắng
—	Vacant		25 May 1974	2 July 1976
Spouses of the president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
—	Vacant		2 July 1976	30 March 1980	Tôn Đức Thắng
—		Dương Thị Chung 1922 – 2018	30 March 1980	4 July 1981	Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
Spouses of the chairman of the Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
2		Nguyễn Thị Minh 1912 – ?	4 July 1981	18 June 1987	Trường Chinh
3		Phan Thị Nể ? – ?	18 June 1987	22 September 1992	Võ Chí Công
Spouses of the president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
4		Võ Thị Lê 1928 – 2016	23 September 1992	24 September 1997	Lê Đức Anh
5		Nguyễn Thị Vinh ? –	24 September 1997	27 June 2006	Trần Đức Lương
6		Trần Thị Kim Chi[6] ? –	27 June 2006	25 July 2011	Nguyễn Minh Triết
7		Mai Thị Hạnh[7] 1956 –	25 July 2011	2 April 2016	Trương Tấn Sang
8		Nguyễn Thị Hiền[8] 1958 –	2 April 2016	21 September 2018	Trần Đại Quang†
—	Vacant		21 September 2018	23 October 2018	Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh (Acting)
9		Ngô Thị Mân[9] 1948 –	23 October 2018	5 April 2021	Nguyễn Phú Trọng
10		Trần Thị Nguyệt Thu[10] ? –	5 April 2021	18 January 2023	Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
—	Vacant		18 January 2023	2 March 2023	Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (Acting)
11		Phan Thị Thanh Tâm[11] ? –	2 March 2023	21 March 2024	Võ Văn Thưởng
—	Vacant		21 March 2024	22 May 2024	Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (Acting)
12		Ngô Phương Ly ? -	22 May 2024	21 October 2024	Tô Lâm
13	Vacant		21 October 2024	Incumbent	Lương Cường

First ladies of South Vietnam

First Lady of South Vietnam
Residence	Independence Palace, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City)
Inaugural holder	Trần Lệ Xuân
Formation	26 October 1955; 69 years ago (1955-10-26)
Abolished	30 April 1975; 49 years ago (1975-04-30)

No.	Portrait	Name	Tenure began	Tenure ended	President
1		Trần Lệ Xuân[d] Madame Nhu 1924 – 2011	26 October 1955	2 November 1963	Ngô Đình Diệm
—	Vacant		2 November 1963	31 October 1967	Military junta
2		Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh Madame Nguyễn Văn Thiệu 1930 – 2021	31 October 1967	21 April 1975	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
—	Vacant		21 April 1975	30 April 1975	Trần Văn Hương Dương Văn Minh

Notes

1. Not including the two first ladies of South Vietnam
2. Hồ Chí Minh, the first president (1945-1969), was a bachelor during his presidency.
3. Tăng Tuyết Minh was allegedly married to Hồ Chí Minh in 1926 but the pair was separated in 1927 when Hồ went into hiding following the anti-communist coup in Shanghai
4. Madame Nhu was the wife of Ngô Đình Nhu, who was the brother and chief advisor to President Ngô Đình Diệm. Since Diệm was a lifelong bachelor, Madame Nhu assumed the de facto first lady title.

References

1. "Governor-General of Australia". 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-04-08 – via Facebook. Mrs Hurley and Her Excellency Phan Thi Thanh Tam are welcomed by schoolchildren at the Presidential Palace
2. "Madam Tran Thi Nguyet Thu and Mrs Linda Hurley in the gardens of Government House Sydney". Governor of New South Wales. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2023-01-03 – via Facebook.
3. "Đoàn Thị Giàu - "Đệ nhất phu nhân" giản dị nhất". TẠP CHÍ ĐIỆN TỬ VĂN HÓA VÀ PHÁT TRIỂN (in Vietnamese). 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
4. "Hậu ngã ngựa là chấn thương, liệu bà Trần Thị Nguyệt Thu có xộ khám không?". Thời báo (in Vietnamese). 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
5. "Một góc đời riêng của cụ Huỳnh". baoquangnam.vn. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
6. "Vietnam President Visits Japan". Time Magazine website. Retrieved 17 January 2011.^{[dead link]}
7. Anh Tú, Tử Trực (2020-10-09). "Phu nhân nguyên Chủ tịch nước Trương Tấn Sang tặng quà cho ngư dân và trẻ khuyết tật". Người Lao Động.
8. Nhị, Xuân (2018-04-18). "Phu nhân Chủ tịch nước Nguyễn Thị Hiền: Người lặng lẽ làm "cầu nối" cho sự phát triển của quê hương". Tổ Quốc (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2023-01-27.
9. "Tổng bí thư, Chủ tịch nước và phu nhân cùng kiều bào thả cá tiễn ông Táo". Vietnam Net. 2019-01-26.
10. "BST áo dài Lan Hương ra mắt phu nhân nguyên thủ các nước tới Hà Nội". Báo Thế giới và Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
11. "Phu nhân Chủ tịch nước Võ Văn Thưởng cùng Phu nhân Toàn quyền Australia thăm Học viện Âm nhạc Quốc gia". Báo Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (in Vietnamese). 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2023-01-03.

See also

• List of presidents of Vietnam
• President of Vietnam
• Category:Spouses of Vietnamese presidents