Phan Quang Đán

Phan Quang Đán ([faːŋ˧ waːŋ˧ ʔɗaːŋ˦˥]; 6 November 1918 – 26 March 2004) was a Vietnamese political opposition figure who was one of only two non-government politicians who won a seat in the 1959 South Vietnamese election for the National Assembly. Subsequently, he was arrested by the forces of President Ngô Đình Diệm and not allowed to take his seat. The most prominent dissident during the rule of Diệm, he is remembered more for his incarceration than his activities after Diệm's fall, when he became a cabinet minister.

Trained as a doctor, Đán first entered politics in 1945 when the Japanese occupation of Vietnam ended and several local groups challenged French attempts to re-establish colonial power. Đán briefly joined several political parties and started his newspaper account, turning down offers of a cabinet position from the communist-dominated Việt Minh to assist former Emperor Bao Dai as an advisor and briefly as Minister of Information before resigning, citing French reluctance to allow actual autonomy. He then completed a PhD at Harvard University while continuing his activism from afar, writing several political treatises.

Upon returning to South Vietnam, Đán was involved in negotiations with Diệm, but did not join the government, and then became the center of open opposition to Diệm, starting the Democratic Opposition Bloc and the Thời Luận newspaper, which stridently criticized the government. Despite ransackings by a mob of regime supporters, the newspaper's closure by a government court, and his blacklisting from university employment, Đán continued his opposition activities and was elected to the National Assembly in 1959, but was prevented from taking his seat. He then joined the paratroopers' coup of 1960 as a spokesperson after it started and was then jailed in a labor camp when Diệm loyalists crushed the revolt. Đán was released in 1963 upon Diệm's overthrow and assassination, and went on to become foreign minister and deputy prime minister before escaping Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon.