Journalist and historian Philippe Devillers, a close friend of the Vietnamese people, has died at the age of 96. He was one of the first French journalists to base himself in Viet Nam shortly after the August Revolution in 1945.

He came to Viet Nam in 1945 as a press officer for the General Staff of General Leclerc and a correspondent for Le Monde newspaper in Indochina. It is with the spirit of youth that Philippe Devillers was driven to discover Indochina, and he wrote many articles on the war in Viet Nam.

Back in France in October 1946, Philippe Devillers has engaged in the peace movement. He joined the France-Viet Nam Association, founded in 1946 by journalist-writer Andre Viollis, an anti-fascist activist who was also a classmate of President Ho Chi Minh.

During the American war in Viet Nam, he continued to support the Vietnamese people through his articles and books, and delivered lectures at Cornell University, New York.

His latest book Twenty years and more with Viet Nam, 1945-1969, tells the story of his experiences in the country, and was published in 2010.

For his outstanding contributions to Viet Nan's liberation work and friendship between the French and Vietnamese people, he was awarded "The Order of Friendship" by the State of Viet Nam. 

VNA