Võ Thị Sáu
Võ Thị Sáu | |
|---|---|
 before 1952 | |
| Born | 1933 |
| Died | March 13, 1952 (aged 19) |
| Nationality | Vietnamese |
| Occupation | Nationalist guerilla |
| Years active | 1948-1952 |
| Known for | Martyrdom |
Võ Thị Sáu (Đất Đỏ, 1933 – January 23, 1952) was a Vietnamese hero. She was a schoolgirl who fought against the French. (Vietnam was a French colony until 1954.) She was a guerilla fighter.
She was born Phước Thọ Commune, Đất Đỏ District in 1933. In 1948, she started helping the Viet Minh. Many of her friends and family were part of the Viet Minh. She was a contact for the guerillas and passed information to the fighters.[1]
When she was 14, she attacked some French soldiers. She threw a grenade at them. A Captain was killed. Twelve soldiers were hurt. She was not caught.[2]
In 1949, she made another attack. She threw a grenade at a man who was in charge of executions (a canton chief.) The attack did not work: the grenade didn't explode. The French police caught her after the attack. She was sent to prison.[2]
Sáu went to three different prisons.[2] The last prison she went to was Côn Sơn Prison in the Côn Đảo Islands. She was executed (killed) on 23 January 1952. She was 18 years old.[3]
Today, she is considered a martyr. She is buried in Hàng Dương Cemetery on Côn Sơn Island. Many Vietnamese people come to worship at her grave.[4]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Eager, Paige Whaley (2008). From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists: Women and Political Violence. p. 131.
One story in particular of Vo Thi Sau exemplifies the commitment of the women to the national liberation cause. In 1948, after many of her friends and relatives joined the Resistance against the French, Sau became a contact for a local guerrilla....
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Grace, Paul (1974). "Introduction". Vietnamese women in society and revolution. Vol. 1.
On March 13, 1952 the French executed a sixteen-year-old woman named Vo Thi Sau. She was being ... She was given a grenade with which she managed to kill a French captain and wound 12 French soldiers. Her action went undetected. Late in 1949 a Vietnamese collaborator who was the canton chief of the district managed to get the French to execute hundreds of young men suspected of being Viet Minh cadres right in the market place. Sau was given the responsibility of eliminating this traitor. Since ammunition was so scarce, she was given only one hand grenade. It did not explode and she was caught by the French authorities. She went through three jails and scores of....
- ↑ Emmons, Ron (2012). Frommer's Vietnam: with Angkor War. ISBN 9781118119976.
Perhaps the most tragically poignant story of Con Son's prisoners is that of Vo Thi Sau, executed by the French at 19 years of age for lobbing a grenade at French soldiers when she was only 14. These days there is something of a cult ....
- ↑ Eisner, Rivka Syd Matova (2008). Re-staging revolution and remembering toward change: National Liberation Front women perform prospective memory in Vietnam. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. p. 287.
The Spirit of Vo Thi Sau – One of the other spirits lingering and listening in the room with us is that of the national martyr (liet si) Vo Thi Sau. She is one of the most revered ancestral spirits in the lives of the performance group women. Vo Thi Sau ...