Mr. Trinh Huy Quang was born in 1909 into a middle-class peasant family with some dignitaries in Phuc Tuong village, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province.  In his youth, Trinh Huy Quang was sent to Thanh Hoa town to study. That was also the time when there were 2 remarkable revolutionary organizations in Thanh Hoa, namely Vietnam Revolutionary Youth and Tan Viet Revolutionary Party. Along with that, patriotic movements such as the struggle for releasing Phan Boi Chau, the memorial and funeral ceremony for Phan Chu Trinh, etc., together with the public and secret circulation of progressive books and newspapers, had a profound impact on the patriotic spirit of the majority of students and young people.

Mr. Trinh Huy Quang

In 1927, Trinh Huy Quang passed Primarie but did not “make a name” as a civil servant. Instead, he returned to his hometown with the determination to “do something for saving the homeland”. In 1928, he was admitted to the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League.  After the National Revolutionary Youth League Congress held in Hong Kong in May 1929, Trinh Huy Quang and many other comrades went for “proletarianization” at industrial establishments in the province. The organization’s activities were then leaked, many members were arrested, including Trinh Huy Quang, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison, exiled to Nha Trang and Buon Ma Thuot. In prison, he joined the establishment of a communist party cell to lead protests against the guards, study politics, and find ways to contact the organization.

In 1932, he was released from prison, returned to his hometown to join the Communist Party, continued his revolutionary activities and was arrested for the second time at the end of 1933, sentenced to 2 years and imprisoned in Thanh Hoa province. At the end of 1935, Trinh Huy Quang was released from prison, reconnected with the organization, and continued his activities.  From 1936 to 1939, he was elected Secretary of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee. The book “History of Thanh Hoa” volume 5, published in 1996 by the Social Science Publishing House, commented: “The victories of the revolutionary movement in the period of the democratic front (1936-1939) in Thanh Hoa were attributed to the great contribution of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Trinh Huy Quang”.

Amid the active revolutionary movement in Thanh Hoa, in early April 1939, Trinh Huy Quang was mobilized by the Central Government to strengthen Nghe An force. In July that year, after a big meeting in Quynh Luu district, he was arrested for the third time and exiled to Buon Ma Thuot. In March 1945, the Japan overthrew France, he escaped from prison and was assigned to the South Central region. After the August Revolution in 1945, Trinh Huy Quang served as Chairman of People’s Committee of Ninh Hoa district and then Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee. From July 1946, he was assigned to the army, serving as Political Commissar of Regiment 80 and then Political Commissar cum Commander of Zone VI under Interzone V.

In mid-1954, Commander and Political Commissar of Zone VI under Interzone V Trinh Huy Quang was sent to attend the Senior Party School in Beijing, China. In 1955, he returned and continued to serve the army for a while, then was assigned to join the leadership of the Ministry of Finance. In April 1957, the State established the Bank for Construction of Vietnam under the Ministry of Finance, with the function of, as its name implies, participating in national construction, building socialism in the Northern region and the resistance to liberate the South, unifying the country. Mr. Trinh Huy Quang, at that time, was a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Finance, then was appointed as the first Director of Bank for Construction of Vietnam, steering the boat in the period of “tough beginnings”.

At the end of 1958, he was assigned back to the Ministry of Finance. From October 1960 to November 1963, he served as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. At the end of his Ambassador’s term, he served as a Departmental Head under the Government Inspection Committee. Due to many times being tortured and imprisoned by the enemy, his health deteriorated day by day. He passed away on 31 October 1974 in Hanoi, at the age of 65. Due to his huge contributions to the revolution of the country, Mr. Trinh Huy Quang was awarded First-class Resistance Order and First-class Victory Medal by the Party and State. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded First-class Order of Independence. Today, a major street in Thanh Hoa city is named after Trinh Huy Quang.

During his term of office as Director of Bank for Construction of Vietnam, Mr. Trinh Huy Quang has contributed to the restoration, expansion and construction of many new projects of great significance to the country’s economy such as: Tran Hung Dao Mechanical Factory, Yen Phu Power Plant, Hai Phong Cement Plant, Coal Mines in Quang Ninh, Hai Phong Shipyard, Gia Lam Train Repair Workshop, Hanoi Mechanical Plants, 8-3 Textile Factory, Phu Tho Tea Plant, Thong Nhat matches Factory, etc.

Within two years as the first Director of the Bank for Construction of Vietnam, Mr. Quang led the team to successfully complete the assigned political tasks, including: Ensuring timely and accurate provision of capital for basic construction, supervising the rational use of capital; Strengthening inspection of the completion of capital investment plans, thereby speeding up the construction progress, preventing losses and waste, especially improving investment efficiency and accumulating capital to promote the development of the socialist economy.