The UNESCO Executive Board will send the file of Nguyen Du (1766-1820), a revered Vietnamese poet who is widely known for his hallmark “Truyen Kieu” (The Tale of Kieu), to the organization’s Great Council to grant him the honorary title “L'homme de Culture” (Man of Culture).

According to Ho Bach Khoa, head of the Nguyen Du National Relic management in northern Ha Tinh province, Nguyen Du’s file is highly appreciated by the organization and he is among the 93 personalities to be honored this time.

The UNESCO Great Council is set to convene in Paris and officially bestow the title this November before a host of activities to pay homage to the prominent poet and celebrate the recognition are held in Vietnam and several other UNESCO member countries in 2014 and 2015.

Nguyen Du, who was recognized by the World Peace Council as one of the world’s cultural celebrities in 1965, was born to a noble mandarin family under the later Le dynasty and he himself became a mandarin, who was dedicated to listening to commoners’ voices and helping them, under the Nguyen dynasty.

He was equally outstanding in composing poems in Han (ancient Chinese characters) and Nom (Vietnamese characters adapted from ancient Chinese), with his poetry pervaded with profound love for humans and humanitarian values.

His most notable poetic work is “Truyen Kieu” in the Nom language, the first Vietnamese novel featuring over 3,200 lines written in the Vietnamese 6/8 verse.

The masterpiece has been translated into different languages including French, Russian, English, Chinese, Hungarian and most recently Korean.