orig. Nguyen Vinh Thuy
born Oct. 22, 1913, Vietnam
died Aug. 1, 1997, Paris, France
Last reigning emperor of Vietnam (r. 1926–45, 1949–55).
He was educated in France and in 1926 succeeded to a throne that was dominated by the French. Retained as a powerless ruler under the Japanese during World War II, he fled the country after the Viet Minh drove the Japanese out. In 1949 the French, having agreed to the principle of an independent Vietnam, invited him to return as sovereign. He did, but he accomplished little and retired to France in 1955 when a national referendum called for the country to become a republic.