Thu Trang - Vietnam's first Miss: "Wasted pregnancy" in Japan

In a complicated love affair, the person who comes later, the third person is always under a lot of pressure, scandal and rarely sympathizes. But there is also a third person who repents and overcomes himself. That is the story of the first Miss Vietnam, Mrs. Thu Trang .

Thu Trang was born into an intellectual family in Ngoc Ha flower village, Hanoi, moved to Saigon at the age of 10. She possesses a heavenly beauty: smooth white skin, delicate face with arched eyebrows, sad eyes, plump lips and straight nose bridge. She used to be a spy of the Viet Minh in the inner city of Saigon, a journalist, a poet, a writer, before becoming Miss.

Pregnant in Japan with a married man with children

In 1955, the first Miss Saigon contest was held in Saigon, at Lido cinema. This contest is organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs of Ngo Dinh Diem government. At that time, Thu Trang Cong Thi Nghia was a journalist, sent by the editorial office to report on the contest. At that time, because it was still heavy with old ideas, it was the first beauty contest held, so the atmosphere to respond to the contest was not as exciting and exciting as it is now. There are no preliminary rounds from the grassroots, regional competitions.

Many beautiful young girls are afraid to participate in the contest for fear of being rejected. Therefore, the number of candidates participating in the competition is very small. That year when Thu Trang appeared to report on the contest, the contest organizer immediately noticed her charming beauty and asked her to participate.

With the enthusiastic support of friends, plus a little curiosity of youth and the confidence of an active female journalist, she registered to participate in the Miss Universe contest that year and surpassed 30 other contestants to win the contest. crowned Miss.

That year she turned 23 years old. At that time, the concept of society was not as open as it is now, so the first Miss contest she participated in did not have a swimsuit competition, because if there was this part, the contestants would probably give up most of the time.

So there is only the Ao Dai and Evening Ao Dai contest, followed by the behavioral exam. Proceeds from the contest are also used for social work.

The reward of Miss Thu Trang when she was crowned was a Lamberta motorbike, a gold barbell, 3 thousand dong (equivalent to 10 gold) and an air ticket to the US. However, Ngo Dinh Diem's government at that time knew that she had been a spy for the Revolution, so it prevented her from going to America.

The crown of Miss made Thu Trang Cong Thi Nghia have many opportunities with cinema, in the big films at that time. One of the big films that she participated in was the film Luc Van Tien by director Tong Ngoc Hap. In that movie, Thu Trang played the role of Kieu Nguyet Nga.

The film "Luc Van Tien" was nominated to attend the 1957 Asian Film Festival, then introduced to many other countries as a way to promote and compete Vietnamese cinema to the world.

The entire post-production of the film had to be done in Japan for a long time. Due to lack of funds, the group from four people was reduced to two people: Thu Trang and director Tong Ngoc Hap. For the first time, Vietnam brought a film to the festival and introduced, the premieres were continuously everywhere, Thu Trang and director Hap wave appeared in the press like a picture with a shadow. Not only in newspapers or in movies, but also in daily life in foreign lands.

1957 was both a glorious and painful year for Thu Trang. At the age of 25, she fell into the arms of director Hap. She later wrote in her memoirs: "It wasn't until the age of 25 that I became a woman in tragic circumstances, lured into situations that I felt I could not avoid. When a man is passionate, so Is it easy to get drunk in the wild madness?Or am I an object of some unapproachable, over-protective features, which makes it all the more exciting in the need to possess, to conquer due to the pride of men, mixing mixed with more or less fantasies of love? On the contrary, I did not know anything about sex.

It was a wrong and perverse love affair, because director Tong Ngoc Hap had a wife and children at that time. In a rare interview about this, Ms. Thu Trang confided: "Our friendship dates back to when we met each other on the concept of art, at that time I was keeping the Women's page for the Living newspaper. Mr. Hap has understood me through my studies. From friendship to love is not far...".

She also shared very frankly that: "I know he has a family, but according to him, he and his wife are in the separation period, the two are in the process of getting a divorce, before he knew me. .. As soon as he was in Saigon (before he went to Japan), Mr. Hap told me that he could not legally divorce because he was not married. agreement between him and his wife. It seems that the two of them made papers together, and Mr. Hap gave Ms. Nguyet all the house and money. So of course from the legal point of view he is a completely free person." Believing her lover's words, the Miss who had never tasted the forbidden fruit fell into a love affair. In Japan, director Hap proposed to her and wrote a letter asking for her permission.

She recounted: "My father answered and forced Mr. Hap's parents to take charge of the marriage. But because of the reason that I had to finish the movie, I was stuck in Japan for a long time. And also because of the belief. Mr. Hap said that he's divorced, of course there are no obstacles anymore, marriage can be done anywhere. Moreover, I intend to stay in Japan for a while to learn more about cinema."

The willpower of a single mother and the silent love of poet Bui Giang

She was determined to keep the growing baby in her womb. In the fall of 1957, the two returned to Saigon. At this point, she was close to giving birth. She was deeply shocked, because she was greeted at the airport by an angry crowd. "We lived in the next tragedy when we returned to Saigon at the end of 1957. It was a terrible storm that fell on me when I first became a mother. Vietnamese society at that time was not selfless. for such events," she wrote.

In her memoirs, she also elaborated on how the suitcase containing newborns prepared for her son was torn up; Clothes and jewelry were lost, only photos and papers needed in the hand bag were healthy. Indian producer Robert had to lead her belly hug and run away in his private car to escape the anger of the crowd.

After that, no wedding took place, partly because Mr. Hap's family objected. She recounted in the interview: "My family intends to bring the matter to the law, but I do not want to bring the emotional issue to court, it is better to settle it peacefully together, thus avoiding suffering for me. Therefore, I only wish that Mr. Hap and his wife would heal. I am ready to annul this marriage (the marriage in my illusion) at any time."

She decided to be a single mother, naming her son after his father's surname - Tong Ngoc Van Tien to celebrate her tragic first love. After that, she never let go of blame or asked for any responsibility from director Tong Ngoc Hap.

At the end of 1957, a group of American filmmakers came to Vietnam to plan to make the film "The Quiet American" based on the novel that was popular at the time. Director Mankiewicz targeted Thu Trang for the role of a Vietnamese girl in the film, but she refused to meet her. She turned down a precious opportunity to find her way to the American movie capital, choosing to be a mother in peace. After giving birth, she applied to work in a foreign company to avoid scandal.

Suddenly falling into the situation of "wild pregnancy", being turned away by the fans, but not so that her charm was impaired. One of the very famous men who were so infatuated with her that they forgot to eat or sleep was the poet Bui Giang. Writers and artists in Saigon must have guessed that Bui Giang's strange and famous poem: "With two eyes, crying for one child" was written for her. "Crying for one child", that is, feeling sorry for the woman who has a child, and has nothing to do with eyeballs. This poem was later popularized by the late musician Trinh Cong Son into the song "The Remaining Eye".

Poet Bui Giang also wrote many other poems for her, some published, some not. In the episode "Source Rain" printed in 1962, he wrote: "I don't know if the sky is round or distorted/ Just today is today's beauty/ I look up at the sky, clouds and wind send each other/ Heaven over there/ Beauty is over here ".

Later, painter Buu Y also published a poem copied by the artist from Bui Giang's poetry dedicated to the muse Thu Trang: "The page of the old paper / Of the original hair / The page of the golden anise / Back to fatigue tired tomorrow / I miss you so much / The land of unspeakable sadness / I call out vaguely / Trang oh, Trang is so bad".

It was a one-sided love imbued with the feelings of despair and resentment of poet Bui Giang. Because Thu Trang, even though she met and exchanged literary stories, she always refused the love of Bui Giang as well as of other men who wanted to come to her.

In her memoirs, she told about the memory of meeting the poet on a rainy day in 1961, when she was going to France. With the sense of an artist, he knew she was gone and would not come back. "I was a little surprised when he looked down at the marble floor. Both were silent, I wanted to say something to make things right. Before he could, he bent down to pick up my green slippers for the house. Next to him, he picked it up and quietly opened the newspaper to pack the slippers. Then he stood up: I'm back!". From then on, they did not see each other again.

New life is proud in the West

In 1961, Ms. Thu Trang received an invitation to France to join the film industry and decided to move to this country. However, in France, she stopped acting and returned to the path of knowledge. She applied for admission to the Graduate School of History and Philosophy - part of the Sorbonne University. Because the money she brought with her from Vietnam was dwindling, she had to go to school and work as a tutor and an English interpreter to pay for her two children's living expenses.

At school, she approached and soon became close to a group of left-wing students who cared about and supported Vietnam's anti-American resistance war. She met the love of her life - Mr. Marcel Gaspard, who later became her life partner during those years. In 1978 she became a Doctor of History at the University of Paris 7 in France. She also diligently contributed to the activities of the Vietnamese in France, supporting international students. She also regularly interacts with great Vietnamese intellectuals whenever they have the opportunity to visit France.

Not only studying history, she also continued to write poems, stories, memoirs, published many books and in 1990, was voted as one of the 100 beloved Vietnamese poets of the 20th century. , she was invited to lecture at many Vietnamese universities. For many reasons, she rarely reveals her identity as Miss Thu Trang.

Information and pictures about her married life were also not disclosed. But looking at the bright, confident eyes in the photos, it can be surmised that her life with medical professor Marcel Gaspard in France is quite happy and peaceful.

The press still calls her the first Miss Vietnam. But she still wanted to correct that the first Miss Vietnam was Miss Bui Bich Phuong (in the Miss Vietnam contest organized by Tien Phong newspaper in 1988), and she was only the first Miss under the regime. Saigon's puppet power. However, perhaps calling her the first Miss is not wrong, as she is the first Vietnamese girl to be crowned in a beauty contest taking place in Vietnam.

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