Đặng Phong

Đặng Phong (1937–2010) was a Vietnamese economic historian.

Born in Hà Tây Province, Đặng 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". He had a Bachelor of Arts in history at Hanoi University in 1960 and graduated from National Economics University, Planning Faculty in 1964.

Career

Đặng Phong worked as an economist specializing in economic history for Vietnam Institute of Economics. 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. 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 Đặng Phong deemed to be detailed and can serve as part of his own post-war development plan for Vietnam.

His book Lịch sử kinh tế Việt Nam was published in 2000, in a review for Lao Động the newspaper, Y Trang considered Đặng Phong so far has been a non-notable historian, attributing the causes to economic history field not being much appreciated. Throughout his life, Đặng 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 Tư duy Kinh tế Việt Nam was published in 2008, According to Đặng 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 Động the newspaper, Y Trang described Đặng Phong as a "lively and quite contemporary historian". Trần Phương saw Đặng Phong as someone with "serious scientific manner", "digging diligently to the roots of the events in order to represent historical events faithfully". Nguyễn Gia Kiểng praised the diversity of documents, "accompanied by accurate and sharp judgments". During the preparation process, Đặng Phong collected documents and had access to high-ranking politicians of the state. Economic professor Nguyễn Thị Hiền noted Đặng Phong for having "a rich literary mind and a very sharp synthesis ability".

Researching history and teaching Đặng Phong's book Chuyện Thăng Long – Hà Nội qua một đường phố 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 Tuổi Trẻ Online, Thu Hà found the familiar "calmness, depth of Đặng Phong's scholarly and commentary style" can still be found in this book, yet in a "softer, more revealing" way.

Đặng Phong taught at Đại học Kinh doanh và Công nghệ Hà Nội (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).

Family and death Đặng Phong's brother is Đặng Vũ. His daughter is Đặng Lê Chi.