| Lê Khả Phiêu | |
| Office: | General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam |
| Term Start: | 26 December 1997 |
| Term End: | 22 April 2001 |
| Predecessor: | Đỗ Mười |
| Successor: | Nông Đức Mạnh |
| Office1: | Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party |
| Term Start1: | 29 December 1997 |
| Term End1: | 22 April 2001 |
| Predecessor1: | Đỗ Mười |
| Successor1: | Nông Đức Mạnh |
| Birth Date: | 27 December 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Đông Khê commune, Đông Sơn District, French Indochina |
| Party: | Communist Party of Vietnam |
| Death Place: | Hanoi, Vietnam |
| Allegiance: | Vietnam |
| Branch: | Vietnam People's Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1950–1997[1] |
| Rank: | Colonel General |
| Commands: | Chairman of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army Political Commissar of the High Command of the Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers in Cambodia |
| Battles: | Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Vietnam War, First Indochina War |
Lê Khả Phiêu (27 December 1931[2] – 7 August 2020[3]) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001.[4] Lê Khả Phiêu served in the Vietnam People's Army during the First and Second Indochina Wars, join in the Cambodian war, and was Head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army.[5]
Lê Khả Phiêu has previously been viewed as a conservative.[6] However, this categorization has been challenged by historian Martin Gainsborough, who notes that Lê Khả Phiêu made some remarkably outspoken comments about problems in the party before the Tenth Party Congress. Lê Khả Phiêu criticized what he called 'illness of partyization' (bệnh đảng hoá), meaning that the Party controls everything.[7] Lê Khả Phiêu was a protégé of his predecessor, Đỗ Mười.[8] He was elevated to the Politburo in the early 1990s.[9]
Lê Khả Phiêu was born on 27 December 1931 in Thượng Phúc village in Đông Khê District in Thanh Hoa Province. In 1945, he joined the local Viet Minh movement and joined the Indochinese Communist Party on 19 June 1949. [2]
On 1 May 1950 he was sent by the Viet Minh to join the army. He was promoted to second lieutenant, advancing to the position of Company Politician in the 66th Regiment of the 304th Division. From September 1953 to 1958, he held the post of Deputy Political Officer member of the battalion and then 66th Regimental Political Chair.
Lê Khả Phiêu died on 7 August 2020 in Hanoi, after suffering from serious illness, at the age of 88.The cause of death was listed as COVID-19.
A 2-day mourning period for his death was decreed nationwide in Vietnam from 14 to 15 August 2020. He was buried at Mai Dịch Cemetery in Hanoi.
Source:[10]
| Gold Star Order (2007)[11] | ||||
| Military Exploit Order First class | Military Exploit Order Second class | Military Exploit Order Third class | Resistance Order First class | Resolution for Victory Order Third class |
| Feat Order First class | Feat Order Second class | Feat Order Third class | Medal for the Victory of Liberation First Class | Medal for the Victory of Liberation Second Class |
| Medal for the Victory of Liberation Third Class | Liberation Order First Class | Liberation Order Second Class | Liberation Order Third Class | Victory Banner Medal |
| Glorious Fighter Medal First Class | Glorious Fighter Medal Second Class | Glorious Fighter Medal Third Class | Order of José Martí (Cuba)[12] | Freedom Medal (Laos) |
