Woman who gave Hanoi 5,000 ounces of gold to fight the French to be given official funeral

The Hanoi municipal administration will hold an official funeral on Monday afternoon for a woman who donated more than 5,000 ounces of gold to anti-French revolutionists in 1945.

A source from the city’s People’s Committee said Hoang Thi Minh Ho's funeral will be hosted by top officials from 1.30-3 p.m. at the cemetery house at 5 Tran Nhan Tong Street.

Ho died at home on November 5, aged 104. The gold she donated to the cause would be worth VND183.1 billion (more than $8 million) at today's prices.

She is entitled to a lot in one of the capital's cemeteries, but the family has decided to bury her in the neighboring Phu Tho Province.

Vietnam holds official funeral ceremonies for people who have made outstanding achievements in politics, economics, society, literature, art, science, national defense, security, diplomacy and other domains - achievements that are recognized by the country’s First Class Order of Independence title.

Both Ho and her husband Trinh Van Bo, a businessman who died in 1988, received the title. The couple owned a cloth shop in Hanoi which exported to customers in China, Japan, India and even as far away as Switzerland.

The city is also considering naming a small street after Bo in Cau Giay District.