Nguyễn Du (阮攸; 3 January 1766 – 16 September 1820), courtesy name Tố Như (素如) and art name Thanh Hiên (清軒), is a celebrated Vietnamese poet and musician.

[1][2] Nguyễn Du was born in a great wealthy family in 1765 in Bích Câu, Đông Kinh.

[3][4][5] His father, Nguyễn Nghiễm, was born in Tiên Điền village, Nghi Xuân, Hà Tĩnh, Vietnam.

At the age of 19 (some sources say 17), Du passed the provincial examination and received the title of "tú tài" (Bachelor's degree), which made him (very roughly) the equivalent of a high school graduate.

However, in Nguyễn Du's time this was a far more difficult credential to obtain both because few people were affluent enough to devote themselves to study and because of exacting standards applied.