‘Madame Viet Nam’ finds her final resting place in Ha Noi
True ambassador: The ashes of Judith Ladinsky, a humanitarian and health science professor from the US, will be buried in Viet Nam, following her wishes. — Photo wnpj.com
HA NOI (VNS)— On January 12 last year Judith Ladinsky, a humanitarian and health science professor from the US University of Wisconsin, died.
During her last moments, Ladinsky said she wished to be buried in Viet Nam to show her fondness for the country and its people. She would be happy to see that her will has been realised.
This morning, the Ministry of Science and Technology will host an official ceremony to receive Ladinsky’s ashes, directly transported from Wisconsin by her daughter Morrisa Ladinsky and son-in-law Mitchell Cohen. Her ashes will later be buried at the Vinh Hang Cemetery, Ha Noi.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh said: “Not many people who pass away leaving behind ‘great contributions’ will be remembered forever, and not many will live forever in the mind of the living after they die. Prof Ladinsky is one of those.
“The Vietnamese people love her and call her by the name ‘Madam Viet Nam’. She is considered an unofficial US diplomat to Viet Nam because of her remarkable contribution to improving US-Viet Nam relations,” Thanh said.
“On this occasion, we would like to once again honour her contributions to Viet Nam’s science, education and healthcare development.
“The professor has done a huge number of works significant to Vietnamese people that they will never forget. She is not just a kind American friend who worked tirelessly for Vietnamese people but for many she is a benefactor that helped their lives change for the better.”
The first US ambassador to Viet Nam Pete Peterson called her “the real first ambassador of the US to Viet Nam”.
Ladinsky was born in 1938 in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in New York City and received degrees from the University of Michigan and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin.
Ladinsky first visited Viet Nam in 1978 and developed an instant passion for Viet Nam and its people. In 1980, she was head of the Healthcare Department of the US Committee for Scientific Co-operation with Viet Nam and in 1984 succeeded Edward Cooperman, another humanitarian who devoted his life to Viet Nam, as head of the committee.
In more than 100 visits to Viet Nam, Ladinsky often brought with her medical equipment and facilities, a huge number of books and documents related to science, healthcare and education to gift hospitals, schools and research institutes. She also managed to mobilise million of dollars to her humanitarian work and research in Viet Nam. She showed deep interest in rural health and the shortage of doctors and nurses in rural areas.
For her efforts and extraordinary medical services to Viet Nam, she received the Medal for the Cause of Science and Technology and the Medal for the Cause of Vietnamese Women’s Liberation in 2007, the Medal for Dedication to the Health of the People in 2004, the Medal for the Cause of Education in 2001, and the Friendship Medal in 1999 by then president Tran Duc Luong. — VNS