Dr. Vo Xuan Que and his collection of translations entitled “Prison Diary in Foreign Languages” (Photo courtesy of Dr. Vo Xuan Que)

“Prison Diary in Foreign Languages” is the most extensive collection of translations of President Ho Chi Minh’s “Prison Diary” to date. It contains 62 translations in 37 languages by 79 translators. 15 of these translations have never previously been published in Vietnam.

Author Vo Xuan Que traveled to Finland, Sweden, and Denmark and also contacted the translators of the Bengali (India and Bangladesh), Sinhala (Sri Lanka), Malayalam (India), and English versions.

"The translators have a profound respect for President Ho Chi Minh. They were inspired to translate ‘Prison Diary’ because it offered a more personal perspective of him—not just as a communist leader or revolutionary, but as a deeply human and artistic figure," said Que.

Que said “Prison Diary” is “a literary work of great ideological and artistic value, a self-portrait that helps readers better understand the revolutionary and artist Ho Chi Minh”. Since it was first translated from the original Chinese version into Vietnamese in 1960, “Prison Diary” has been one of the most frequently reprinted and widely published works of Vietnamese literature. But, like “The Tale of Kieu”, it’s hard to say exactly how many languages it’s been translated into or in how many countries it’s been published.

The translation of “Prison Diary in Foreign Languages” in Basque (Photo courtesy of Dr. Vo Xuan Que)

That uncertainty is what motivated Que to start researching foreign-language translations of “Prison Diary”. In 2020, after discovering a Finnish version and several other Nordic translations, many of which were published more than half a century ago yet remained unknown in Vietnam, he decided to compile and publish a collection of these works.

“While visiting the Ho Chi Minh Museum, I noticed that the display of President Ho Chi Minh’s memorabilia included only a few photocopied editions of ‘Prison Diary’, and none in any Nordic language. So I contacted university libraries and national libraries in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and started collecting those translations,” said Que. 

Que’s book has a clear and scholarly focus. It only includes foreign language translations and excludes Vietnamese translations, Thai editions published in Vietnam, and the original Chinese versions printed in China. The book offers important contextual information, corrects previous inaccuracies, enriches existing research with new details, and includes a collection of musical compositions inspired by the translations.

Que’s map showing the countries where “Prison Diary” has been published. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Vo Xuan Que)

“This book represents a lifelong effort by Dr. Vo Xuan Que. His meticulousness has produced a comprehensive and detailed study of the many translations of ‘Prison Diary’ worldwide. Que once suggested that the State honor the translators. I think that’s well worth considering. Que’s book gives us a deeper understanding of the greatness of President Ho Chi Minh, a distinguished cultural figure of humanity,” said writer and Major General Nguyen Hong Thai.

Dr. Vo Xuan Que has published 15 newspaper and journal articles about the translations and the translators.