Bảo Đại

Bảo Đại (Vietnamese: [ɓa᷉ːw ɗâːjˀ], chữ Hán: 保大, 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. Following the surrender of Japan and the subsequent August Revolution, he abdicated in August 1945 in favor of Hồ Chí Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam and briefly served as an advisor in its government.

Between 1946 and 1949, Bảo Đại left Vietnam to travel across China, Hong Kong and Europe. During this time, he switched his support from Hồ's Việt Minh to other anti-communist nationalist groups before signing a series of accords with the French Fourth Republic that established the State of Vietnam (as part of the French Union) in opposition to Hồ's Democratic Republic. He served as its Chief of State (國長, Quốc trưởng) between 1949 and 1955. Towards the end of his term in office, Bảo Đại lost power to his Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, who was supported by the United States, and was eventually ousted in a referendum in 1955. He later lived in exile in Paris, France, until his death in 1997.

Viewed as a puppet ruler, Bảo Đại was criticized for being too closely associated with France and for his lavish lifestyle, including months-long pleasure tour in Europe that earned him the sobriquet "night-club emperor". He is perceived negatively by both the current Vietnamese government and the anti-communist diaspora.