Nguyễn Thị Định

Madame Nguyễn Thị Định (; 15 March 1920 – 26 August 1992) was the first female general of the Vietnam People's Army during the Vietnam War and the first female Vice President of Vietnam. Her role in the war was as National Liberation Front deputy commander, and was described as "the most important Southern woman revolutionary in the war". Furthermore, she was commander of an all-female force known as the Long-Haired Army, which engaged in espionage and combat against ARVN and US Forces.

Biography Định was born from a peasant family in Bến Tre Province, and fought with the Viet Minh forces against the French. She was arrested and incarcerated by the French colonial authority between 1940–43, and helped lead an insurrection in Bến Tre in 1945, and again in 1960 (against the government of Ngô Đình Diệm). In that period, she lost her first husband while incarcerated by French authorities. She was a founding member of the National Liberation Front (NLF). In 1965 she was elected chairwoman of the South Vietnam Women's Liberation Association, who were given the name the "long-haired warriors" by Ho Chi Minh. A portion of membership in the National Liberation Front continued to be women, and many were drawn to the promise of changes in the role of women in society.

Her memoirs were translated and published by Cornell University Press in 1976. Định was interviewed by Stanley Karnow for Vietnam: A Television History documentary. thumb