Any place is a great learning opportunity if you know where to look. A brisk walk in Saigon can be amazing fodder for history aficionados to exercise their brain muscles — just look at street titles and the amazing people they were named after.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we want to take this chance to delve into the storied past of some local female historical figures. Compared to their male counterparts, female names appear less frequently in the city grid, but many are major urban arteries that pass through Saigon’s most recognizable landmarks and neighborhoods.
Some female folk heroines — like Trưng Trắc-Trưng Nhị, Bà Triệu and Hồ Xuân Hương — are so well-known that they even crossed our national border to become playable characters in foreign video games, but few might be able to list the accomplishments and retell the life stories of less famous figures like Út Tịch or Nguyễn Thị Định. For this feature, Saigoneer presents to you six lesser-known female heroes whose names grace the streets of Saigon.
1. Cô Giang-Cô Bắc
Cô Giang and Cô Bắc were sisters in a family of seven siblings. Their parents named them after the family’s home province, Bắc Giang. The sisters joined the Vietnamese Nationalist Party straight out of high school to fight against French occupation in northern Vietnam. During this time, Giang met, fell in love with, and married Nguyễn Thái Học, one of the party leaders. Cô Giang and Cô Bắc were responsible for communication and the transportation of army resources between party hideouts across northern provinces.
In 1930, the party carried out the Yên Bái mutiny against French garrisons across the region, but it failed. Học and Bắc were arrested, along with many others. Despite Giang’s efforts to break them out, Học was executed, and Bắc was jailed until her release in 1936. After witnessing her fiancé’s death, Giang returned to Học’s hometown to bid farewell to his family and then shot herself in the head on the street, using the pistol he had given her on their engagement.
Today in Saigon, Cô Giang and Cô Bắc are two parallel streets in District 1’s Cô Giang Ward. Both these short, quaint streets cut through Nguyễn Thái Học Street, as if mirroring their namesakes' fateful encounter in 1927.
Read more about the badass sister duo from Bắc Giang here.
2. Út Tịch
Út Tịch is perhaps best known by her moniker người mẹ cầm súng (Mother with a Gun). She was born in Trà Vinh Province in 1931 and grew up in poverty under the reign of a cruel landlord. After Việt Minh forces emancipated her, she decided to join them, even as a teenager, to help gather intelligence against the French.
After the 1954 Geneva Accords, she and her husband remained in the South, continuing their fight against US-backed forces. Despite her battlefield role, she was also a devoted mother, giving birth to eight children before being killed in an American bombardment in Châu Đốc in 1968, just weeks after her last child was born.
Today in Saigon, Út Tịch Street connects the Nhiêu Lộc Canal with Cộng Hòa Street in Tân Bình District.
Read more about Út Tịch here.
3. Nguyễn Thị Định
Nguyễn Thị Định was born in 1920 into an agrarian family in Bến Tre. She was homeschooled by her older brother until he was caught by the French for his involvement in the Indochinese Communist Party. As the youngest and smallest sibling, she was tasked with rowing a boat to bring him food in prison every day, evading the guards' watchful eyes. During these trips, she saw firsthand scenes of torture committed by the enemy, solidifying her desire to join the revolution and wipe out the French.
For the petite, asthmatic Định, joining the revolution seemed like a natural path, but her first enemy was societal gender norms — she was told she should focus on finding a husband. At 19, she relented and decided to marry one of her brother’s comrades, believing the only way to put this behind her was to choose someone who shared the same cause. They were both arrested in 1940 shortly after their son was born. Her husband died in Côn Đảo, while she was jailed in Bà Rá until her heart disease worsened, leading to her release in 1943.
She reconnected with the revolution soon after and spearheaded the 1945 uprising against the French in Bến Tre. In 1960, she commanded an all-female guerrilla force called đội quân tóc dài (The Long-Haired Army), reclaiming land from landlords — an event that catalyzed the Vietnam War. In December 1960, Định became a founding member of the National Liberation Front and rose through the ranks, becoming Vietnam’s first female Major General in 1974.
Nguyễn Thị Định Street in Saigon today is in Thủ Đức City, linking the Cát Lái Ferry with the An Phú Intersection.
Read more about Nguyễn Thị Định in our long-form piece here
4. Sương Nguyệt Anh
Nguyệt Anh was the pen name of Nguyễn Ngọc Khuê, the fifth daughter of legendary poet Nguyễn Đình Chiểu. Born in 1864 in Bến Tre, she became well-versed in both Hán and Nôm scripts from a young age due to her family’s literary traditions. She married in Mỹ Tho, but after her husband passed away when their daughter was two, she adopted the pen name Sương Nguyệt Anh (Widowed Nguyệt Anh) and opened a small classroom to teach local children how to read.
In 1917, she accepted the position of editor-in-chief of Nữ Giới Chung (Women’s Bell Jingle), a progressive newspaper promoting education, economic development, and gender equality. It was the first media source in Vietnam at the time that taught home economics, discussed ethics, and spoke out against the mistreatment of women. However, it gained too much influence and was suspended by French authorities in 1918.
During this time, Nguyệt Anh’s only daughter passed away after giving birth. She contracted an eye disease that led to gradual blindness, prompting her return to her hometown with her grandchild. She eventually lost her sight completely but continued writing poetry, teaching, and practicing medicine until her death in 1922 at the age of 58 — leaving behind a legacy as a pioneer for gender equality and intellectual progress in Vietnam.
For decades, the Saigon street bearing her name was misspelled as Sương Nguyệt Ánh. Though street signs have since been corrected, the typo remains ingrained in the city's collective memory.
5. Lê Chân
Lê Chân (20–43 CE) was a celebrated female general who supported the Trưng Sisters in their battles against Chinese invaders. Born in Yên Biên (now Quảng Ninh Province) to a physician father and a silk weaver mother. Local legends said that her birth was foretold in a dream her father had — that a fairy in heaven was punished to reincarnate as a human for 40 years and this daughter would grow up to bring glory to the family.
Lê Chân grew up to be exceptionally beautiful, intelligent, and skilled in martial arts. She later moved to what is now Hải Phòng, where she established a commune, developing agriculture, silk production, and fishing while secretly recruiting and training an army. In 40 CE, when the Trưng Sisters were calling for locals to join their rebellion, Lê Chân and her soldiers quickly answered. With the help of Lê Chân, the sisters successfully defeated Chinese governor Tô Định. Trưng Trắc declared herself queen, and bestowed the title of Thánh Chân Công Chúa (Thánh Chân Princess) to Lê Chân, putting her in charge of military training and governance.
In 43 CE, the Han Empire retaliated with overwhelming power. The sisters’ army was ultimately defeated, leading to their suicides to protect their honor. Lê Chân retreated to Lạt Sơn (Hà Nam today) to regroup but was closely pursued by the enemies. To evade capture, she scaled the Giát Dâu Mountain and jumped to her death, picking honor over subjugation.
Lê Chân is often known by her honorific Bà Lê Chân in modern-day Vietnam and is credited with founding Hải Phòng. Her namesake street in Saigon today intersects with Hai Bà Trưng Street, a nod to the trio’s historical friendship back in the day.
