Nguyen Van Thinh

President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Cochinchina

1888

10 November 1946 (58) Saigon, French Cochinchina

6 June 1946 – 11 November 1946

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Nguyễn. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Thinh. Nguyễn Văn Thinh (1888 – 10 November 1946, Saigon) was the first President of Cochinchina. Thinh was a French citizen and joined the Constitutionalist Party in 1926. He founded the Cochinchinese Democratic Party in 1937. He became chief of the provisional government on March 26, 1946, and provisional president on June 1. He felt a loss of face when the French negotiated with the Viet Minh, ignoring his government. "I am being compelled to play a farce," he said. He died, an apparent suicide while still in office, on November 10.