I was born on December 30, 1902, in Tho Tang village, Luong Đien canton, Vinh Tuong district, Vinh Yen province.
I was the eldest son of Nguyen Van Hach and Nguyen Thi Quynh.
My family were middle-class farmers who earned their living through rice cultivation, weaving, and cloth trading.
At the age of four, I began studying Chinese characters, and at eleven, I entered the Franco-Vietnamese primary school in Vinh Yen town.
At nineteen, I passed the entrance exam to the Hanoi College of Pedagogy and received a scholarship from the French colonial administration.
However, due to my straightforward nature and refusal to submit to the colonial education system, I left the school in my third year.
I later enrolled in the College of Commerce under the University of Indochina (1925–1927).
During this period, I helped found the Nam Đồng Publishing House and met several like-minded students—among them Pho Đuc Chinh from the College of Public Works and Ho Van Mich from the College of Pedagogy—who would later become key figures in the revolutionary movement alongside me.
While studying at the University of Indochina, I sent several letters to the Governor-General of Indochina, Alexandre Varenne, urging the French colonial administration to implement progressive reforms in Vietnam.
I placed hope in Varenne because he was a member of the French Socialist Party and, upon taking office, had pardoned Phan Boi Chau and promised sweeping reforms.
But those promises were never fulfilled, and he never replied to my sincere proposals.
Disillusioned with the colonial reform path, my comrades and I came to a resolution:
the only way to open a future for Vietnam was to overthrow the colonial regime and the feudal monarchy by force, establish an independent republic, and build democracy across Indochina.
In 1927, Nam Đong Publishing House decided to support the Bac Ninh uprising led by Quan Trac.
When the plan was exposed, many members were relocated or forced to flee, leaving only a small group including myself.
In October of that year, I gathered the remaining comrades and proposed forming a secret revolutionary party dedicated to armed resistance against French rule.
This organization became the Vietnamese Nationalist Party.
The first branch, called Nam Đong Thu Xa Branch, was led by me and included Ho Van Much, Pho Đuc Chinh, Le Van Phuc, Hoang Van Tung, Hoang Pham Tran (Nhuong Tong), and others.
In December 1927, Vietnam Nationalist Party held its first congress and elected me as Chairman of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the Party.
Under my leadership, the party expanded rapidly, recruiting intellectuals, teachers, peasants, civil servants, and soldiers, all united by the goal of using armed struggle to overthrow colonial rule and establish an independent democratic republic in Vietnam.
By early 1929, the party had formed 120 branches in northern Vietnam with about 1,500 members.
In 1929, northern and north-central Vietnam saw a surge in labor recruitment for rubber plantations in the South, Cambodia, Laos, New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu).
Many workers ended up in severe exploitation.
One of the most notorious recruiters was Bazin in Hanoi.
On February 9, 1929, without approval from the Party Central Committee or myself, three party members—Nguyen Van Vien, Nguyen Van Lan, and Nguyen Đuc Lung—carried out an attack on Bazin at Cho Hom Market.
The incident triggered a massive crackdown by the French colonial authorities.
Using information supplied by an infiltrator named Bui Tiên Mai, the secret police arrested 227 party members, though they failed to capture the two main leaders at the time—myself and Nguyen Khac Nhu, head of the Executive Committee.
Later, Vietnam Nationalist Party internal security group eliminated several informants, but this led to further arrests and heavy losses.
Governor-General Pasquier established a special criminal council to try the arrested members.
This council released 149 people but sentenced 78 others to imprisonment or exile.
The party, severely weakened after the Bazin incident, was forced into a defensive position.
To prevent complete collapse, the leadership decided to launch an uprising within the year.
In mid-May 1929, I convened a national congress in Đuc Hiep village, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province, to prepare for a general uprising.
Although preparations were incomplete, accidents in bomb workshops and successive arrests at the end of 1929 and early 1930 made the situation critical.
I called an emergency meeting and selected multiple locations—including Hung Hoa, Lam Thao, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Son Tsy, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Kien An, Bac Ninh, Đap Cau, Pha Lai, and Hanoi—for the uprising planned for the night of February 10–11, 1930.
Originally, the armed revolt was set for February 9, 1930, with me leading the lowland uprising and Nguyen Khac Nhu and Pho Đuc Chunh directing the mountain forces.
But communication failed, and although I attempted to delay the uprising, the message never reached Nhu.
As a result, the revolt broke out across several northern provinces on February 9–10.
History remembers it as the Yen Bai Uprising, honoring the sacrifices of myself, Phó Đức Chính, and 11 other Vietnam Nationalist Party members on June 17, 1930.
The rebels briefly gained control of part of the French barracks and the provincial capital of Yen Bai for nearly two days.
On February 20, 1930, I was captured in Co Vit hamlet (Chi Linh, Hai Duong).
I was imprisoned in Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi before being transferred to Yen Bai for trial.
On March 30, 1930, the French colonial authorities opened a trial for 87 defendants, many of whom were leaders of Vietnam Nationalist Party , and sentenced 29 of them to death.