François Trinh-Duc
Place of Birth: Montpellier, France
Date of Birth: 11 November, 1986
Ethnicity: French, one quarter Vietnamese, one quarter Italian
François Trinh-Duc is a French rugby union player. A fly-half and centre in rugby union, he played for Montpellier, Toulon, Racing, and Bordeaux Bègles, and the French national team.
François has said:
I never met my grandfather so I don’t know his story so well. He was Vietnamese and to escape the Indo-China War he came to live in France… My name is Vietnamese. My origins are Vietnamese and I am very proud of that but I am French, very French.
François’s paternal grandfather was named Trịnh Đức Nhiên. Trịnh was Vietnamese, from French Indochina, and moved to Agen, France, after the Liberation of France. A picture of Trịnh can be seen here.
Vietnamese (paternal grandfather)
Italian (paternal grandmother)
French (mother)
Trịnh Đức Nhiên’s pic:
http://www.travailleurs-indochinois.org/Images%20converties/trinh_duc_nhien.jpg
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/8316886/Six-Nations-2011-Francois-Trinh-Duc-the-skilful-fly-half-leading-French-renaissance-ahead-of-rugby-World-Cup.html
“I never met my grandfather [..] He was Vietnamese and to escape the Indo-China War he came to live in France. My name is Vietnamese. My origins are Vietnamese and I am very proud of that but I am French, very French.”