Pétrus Ký

In 1851, Vĩnh Ký was granted a scholarship by this school to study at the Penang Seminary, then the main centre of Roman Catholic training for Southeast Asian countries.

Besides the commonly used languages at the time such as French, English, Latin, Greek, Hindi, and Japanese, he was also proficient in Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Lao, Thai, and Burmese.

In June 1863, he accompanied Phan Thanh Giản, the chief delegator sent to France by the Huế Court to negotiate the retrieval of provinces lost into French hands.

This trip was a good opportunity for Vĩnh Ký to meet with famous figures at the time such as Victor Hugo, Littre, Renan, and other French statesmen.

In February 1876, Vĩnh Ký was appointed as a supervisor to the emperor Đồng Khánh at the Viện cơ mật and stayed in that job until October 1876.

He was no longer accredited after the abrupt death of Governor-General Paul Bert on 11 November 1886 and spent most of the time doing research and teaching at the Interpreter School and the Collège des Administrateurs Stagiaires.

Though there are some ideas criticizing him for having cooperated with the French colonialists, no one ever doubts his excellent learning and profound knowledge, as well as his invaluable contributions to Vietnam's cultural development during the early days of modern civilization.