"I devoted myself to science thanks to my husband's efforts to keep me out of material life."

(Dan Tri) - Professor Tran Thanh Van and his wife, Professor Le Kim Ngoc, received the Legion of Honor Officer at the French Embassy on the afternoon of October 3. In her speech, Professor Ngoc dedicated special words to her husband.

On the afternoon of October 3, at the French Embassy, ​​Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung attended the ceremony to award the Legion of Honor Officer to Professor Jean Tran Thanh Van and Professor Le Kim Ngoc. This is the highest honor of France.

The Professor and his wife are both 91 years old this year. They are senior researchers at the French National Agency for Scientific Research and are the only couple promoted to Officer rank this time.

French Ambassador Olivier Brochet honored the two professors as “the most brilliant sons of whom our country is especially proud”.

France also honored the efforts of the Professor and his wife in gathering the world's leading researchers, bringing generations closer together, helping their homeland, on the basis of cultivating the common history between the two nations. The scientific activity "Meeting Vietnam" and its achievements after 3 decades is one of them.

Professor Tran Thanh Van and his wife Professor Le Kim Ngoc took a souvenir photo with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung (Photo: Trong Nhan ICISE).

“If France is the place where my dreams come true, then Vietnam is always the place I look forward to. Together with Kim Ngoc, we wish to contribute to the country’s science, so that Vietnam can firmly stand on the international science map,” Professor Tran Thanh Van expressed.

In her speech in French, Professor Le Kim Ngoc expressed her deep gratitude to her husband.

“My husband often likes to jokingly repeat that I have published a hundred times more work than he has. But it is truly thanks to him that I have been able to put my whole heart into my passions by keeping him away from the troubles of material life.

Van, in essence, is woven from strands of passion, radiating an almost endless source of energy - perhaps thanks to his “free electrons”. He can convince his friends to push a truck uphill with him, without gas,” said Professor Le Kim Ngoc.

Professor Le Kim Ngoc at the ceremony to award the Legion of Honor Officer Medal (Photo: Trong Nhan ICISE).

Sharing about the achievements of the Vietnam Meeting, Professor Le Kim Ngoc affirmed that this is also the achievement of friends from all over the world. The people who contributed to the construction in Quy Nhon are mostly friends of the two Professors from France. These achievements can be seen as a symbol of the close friendship between Vietnam and France.

“In every job, we are just road pavers. Each stone is filled with love, now weighing heavily on our hands.

But don't worry, what we do is like a green forest. Next to the old trees, there are young trees reaching straight up to the sky with fresh green branches and leaves.

A single tree trunk does not make a forest, but the leaves of all the trees will nurture the seeds to blossom and bear fruit like the desert after the rain,” Professor Le Kim Ngoc expressed.

Professor Tran Thanh Van and his wife, Professor Le Kim Ngoc (Photo: Trong Nhan ICISE).

She also sent a message to young Vietnamese women to believe in their dreams, dare to assert themselves and maintain their identity in any situation.

The author of the famous research work “Making Unblooming Herbs Blossom” also advised young people: “Remember that money and fame can turn into smoke in an instant, but compassion and love are forever imprinted deep in the human mind and will be passed on from generation to generation.”

Professor Le Kim Ngoc was born in Vinh Long and attended Marie Curie High School in Saigon before moving to France in 1954 to study natural sciences at Sorbonne University. Three years later, she graduated as valedictorian.

Professor Le Kim Ngoc specialized in plants and was an outstanding biologist who introduced the concept of “thin cell slicing”, a discovery that revolutionized the field of plant biotechnology. Meanwhile, Professor Tran Thanh Van was famous in the field of quantum physics. The two professors married in 1958.

With the companionship of her life partner, Professor Tran Thanh Van has successfully organized borderless scientific sharing forums such as Meeting Moriond, Meeting Blois and Meeting Vietnam.

The French government awarded the Legion of Honor to Professor Tran Thanh Van in 1999 and to Professor Le Kim Ngoc in 2016.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/toi-toan-tam-cho-khoa-hoc-nho-chong-gat-ra-khoi-doi-song-vat-chat-20251004115611550.htm