Historical article on Madame Nhu, the 'Dragon Lady' of Vietnam

other · Vietnam and exile in Europe and the US

An article recounts the life and political influence of Madame Nhu, the de facto first lady of South Vietnam during the 1950s and 1960s, known for her controversial role and eventual exile following the 1963 coup.

This is the archive, not the newspaper. Between 2018 and 2026 this site compiled these items automatically from public community sources — chiefly The Islands Grapevine, regional news feeds and community groups. They were not written by a reporter and were not held to the standards this publication now applies. The archive is kept because it is a useful dated record of what happened on Denman, and it is labelled because pretending otherwise would be the first thing we would tell you not to trust. Current reporting is at The Denman Firestarter.

Sources

  • “The 'Dragon Lady' was the name of a sexy Asian 'villainess'... Madame Nhu... was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu... She was no diplomatist... On November 2, 1963... Diem and his brother were killed in a coup... Madame died in 2011, age 86.” — The Islands Grapevine – June 20th, 2019 (June 20th, 2019)

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