Madame Nhu

Born

1924-08-22

Died

2011-04-24

Birthplace

Hanoï, French Indochina [now Vietnam]

Biography

Trần Lệ Xuân (Vietnamese pronunciation: [t͡ɕən˨˩ le˧˨ʔ swən˧˧]; 22 August 1924 – 24 April 2011), more popularly known in English as Madame Nhu, was the de facto First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngô Đình Nhu, who was the brother and chief advisor to President Ngô Đình Diệm. As Diệm was a lifelong bachelor and because she and her family lived in the Saigon Governor’s Palace together with him, she was considered to be the first lady. Known for her vitriolic comments that attacked and severely denounced the Buddhist community of South Vietnam and the strong U.S. influence and presence in the country, she went to live in exile in France after her husband, Nhu, and her brother-in-law, Diệm, were assassinated in 1963.