Bảo Đại

Emperor Bảo Đại
保大帝
Bảo Đại on throne in Thái Hòa throne hall (太和殿).
Emperor of Đại Nam and Empire of Vietnam
Reign8 January 1926 –
25 August 1945
PredecessorKhải Định
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
Hồ Chí Minh
(as president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam)
1st Chief of State of Vietnam
Reign13 June 1949 –
26 October 1955
PredecessorPosition established
Nguyễn Văn Xuân
(as Head of the Provisional Central Government)
SuccessorNgô Đình Diệm
1st Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam
Reign14 July 1949 –
21 January 1950
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorNguyễn Phan Long
Supreme Advisor to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Reign10 September 1945 –
16 March 1946
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorPosition abolished
BornNguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy ()
(1913-10-22)22 October 1913
Doan-Trang-Vien Palace, Imperial City of Huế, Annam, French Indochina
Died31 July 1997(1997-07-31) (aged 83)
Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1934⁠–⁠1963)

Bùi Mộng Điệp
Lê Thị Phi Ánh
Christiane Bloch-Carcenac
(m. 1972⁠–⁠1997)
Issue
See List
  • Legitimate
  • Bảo Long (1936–2007)
  • Phương Mai (1937–2021)
  • Phương Liên (1938–)
  • Phương Dung (1942–)
  • Bảo Thăng (1943–2017)
  • Unrecognized
  • Phương Thảo (1946–)
  • Phương Minh (1949–2012)
  • Bảo Ân (1951–)
  • Bảo Hoàng (1954–1955)
  • Bảo Sơn (1957–1987)
  • Phương Từ (1955)
  • Patrick-Édouard Bloch-Carcenac (1958–)
Era dates
Bảo Đại () (1926–1945)
HouseNguyễn Phúc
FatherKhải Định
MotherHoàng Thị Cúc
ReligionConfucianism
Mahayana Buddhism
Roman Catholicism
Signature

Bảo Đại (Vietnamese: [ɓâw ɗâjˀ], chữ Hán: , lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 1913 – 31 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc (Phước) Vĩnh Thụy ( chữ Hán: 阮福永瑞), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was de jure emperor of Annam and Tonkin, which were then protectorates in French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.

The Japanese ousted the Vichy French administration in March 1945 and ruled through Bảo Đại, who proclaimed the Empire of Vietnam. He abdicated in August 1945 after Japan surrendered.

From 1949 to 1955, Bảo Đại was the chief of state of the anti-communist State of Vietnam. Viewed as a puppet ruler, Bảo Đại was criticized for being too closely associated with France and spending much of his time outside Vietnam. He was eventually ousted in a referendum in 1955 by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, who was supported by the United States.