Han Mac Tu

Han Mac Tu

Hàn Mặc Tử (September 22, 1912 - November 11, 1940) was a Vietnamese poet. He was born Nguyễn Trọng Trí, at Lệ Mỹ Village, Đồng Hới District, Quảng Bình Province. His pen names included: Minh Duệ, Phong Trần, Lệ Thanh, and finally Hàn Mặc Tử, by which name is known today. He grew up in a poor family, his father having died when he was young. He showed poetic talent at a young age. When he met Phan Bội Châu, he received encouragement and praise that made him well-known. He contracted leprosy in 1937, and was finally hospitalized at Quy Hòa Hospital in September 1940, where he died two months later.

His many poems addressed to real or fictive women - in the manner of Giacomo Leopardi in the West, for example - remain popular, and he is known as a love poet in Vietnam. His poems on folk subjects are also well-known.

Read more about Han Mac Tu:  Poetry, Collections, Poetry in English

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