Vi Kim Ngoc: A talented woman who is passionate about drawing mosquitoes

As someone who is capable of drawing and drawing well, and she is knowledgeable in knowledge and professional requirements, her paintings are both professionally and artistically accurate.

The dream of becoming a researcher

Ms. Vi Kim Ngo was originally a " young lady with a golden branch , " she was the daughter of General Vi Van Dinh, the most well-off family in the North at that time. Not only famous for her beauty, she is also a smart, passionate learner. After marrying Professor Nguyen Van Huyen, Vietnam's first Minister of Education, she persevered in pursuing her dream of becoming a researcher. She attended a training course in Parasitology at Hanoi Medical University. After graduation, she was kept working at the school as a technician.

Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc.

In addition to her practical guidance at the Department of Parasitology, she is also a skillful woman. During the working process, drawing mosquitoes as an illustrative tool for the lecture was one of Ms. Ngoc's main tasks. Because, first of all, she is capable of drawing and drawing well, and she is knowledgeable in knowledge and professional requirements, so her paintings are both professionally and artistically accurate. art. Some figures have been used in textbooks.

The Department of Parasitology is divided into several disciplines (Helminths, Fungi; Types of protozoa; Malaria; Insects - thrifty), in which the Division of Insect-genetics is considered the most difficult, because it requires careful observation, detail and high precision expression. Ms. Ngoc was assigned by Professor Dang Van Ngu, Head of the Department of Parasitology, to take over the entire technical field of the Insect - Tiet group.

According to Prof. Pham Huy Dung (former Deputy Director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute), one of the methods that has been highly effective in practice sessions guided by Vi Kim Ngoc is that she is always connected from the template. practice with theoretical and practical problems. With practice templates, Ms. Ngoc led students to recall the theory he taught in class and what he taught when practicing.

He took for example when making anodes for Anodene mosquitoes, normally just making samples, identifying names, sorting beards, trunks . But in addition to that basic work, Ms. Ngoc often exchanged more places where mosquitoes permanently reside. mosquito life, reproduction and harm caused to human life.

During that period, teachers often used Ngoc's paintings in groups for students to observe and discuss. Or enlarged drawings to hang on the board to illustrate the lecture. Most mosquitoes practice these drawings. Assoc.Prof. Pham Van Than was once instructed by Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc how to draw pictures, to scale on paper, and to harmonize colors. Mr. Than said: "The paintings of Uncle Ngoc are so meticulous that we cannot wait. We only draw general descriptions of mosquitoes, not meticulous details like Uncle Ngoc."

Creator of a picture dictionary for mosquitoes

In order to complete the task of taking charge of the Insect - Tiet group, Ms. Ngoc must plan to catch mosquitoes to make samples and enlarge the insects. To complete a picture of mosquitoes, there are many stages, from preparation such as preparing research plans, identifying objects, learning about characteristics, shapes, and daily life of the species. mosquitoes need to catch. Next is the capture of mosquitoes in different localities.

The department must be organized to catch mosquitoes, Ms. Ngoc can accompany students, or with technical staff. Each crew will have one person in a position to bait for mosquitoes, and one person to catch mosquitoes. People making bait must suffer for mosquito bites, itchy but do not dare to move because of fear of mosquitoes flying away. Even, there are insects living in the barn, cow barn, pigsty . Ms. Ngoc and her colleagues also have to catch themselves.

Culese mosquito No. 109 (male mosquito) caught in Huu Lung, Lang Son was drawn by technician Vi Kim Ngoc in July 1963.

Mosquito identification must be done within 24 hours. To ensure accurate drawing, Ms. Ngoc must use a microscope during the drawing process, the paper is divided into cells with a pencil. The type of brush, pencil must be the type with a small nib, stick. Colors were also chosen by her attention to be both scientifically accurate and aesthetically pleasing. Normally, to complete a picture, Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc concentrated about 1-2 weeks. A closer look at the drawings will reveal the carefulness of each brush stroke, with a very vivid expression like a shot.

Perhaps the most time-consuming process is to color every little detail on every painting. Each type of mosquito such as Aedes, Culese, Mansonia, Anophen . is completed by Mrs. Ngoc, the collection is like a picture dictionary. Whenever mosquitoes are caught, they can be screened on a microscope and compared with drawings to identify mosquitoes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Than (former Head of the Department of Parasitology, Hanoi Medical University), one of her students recalled: " In the past, Mr. Ngoc painted very sophisticated mosquitoes, not simply as now. Because he had to finish the drawing for a long time and rolled it up many times, he had to be careful about the preparation, especially when the paintings were on large sheets of paper, Ngoc often stuck papers on the swept-off screen cloth. , so that the painting will not be crumpled, last longer. There are paintings that are moved a lot on business trips, even used for teaching during evacuation trips but still not torn. In order to draw those vivid images, not everyone can do it, it requires the artist to have professional knowledge. artist's hands and perseverance. The paintings must ensure the accuracy of each black spot on the back of the mosquito, the length of the leg, the color of each part . ".

According to Assoc.Prof. Pham Van Than, Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc's drawings are not only simple drawings but also contain the soul of a devoted professional. That is also the reason why paintings are always treasured and kept all the time. These are also professional documents, which are constantly used by him and the Department staff throughout the working process.

Each completed drawing, technician Vi Kim Ngoc, has detailed subtitles: name of mosquito, gender, location and time of catching mosquitoes, time to draw mosquitoes. According to Assoc.Prof. Pham Van Than, the use of illustrations will make lessons more vivid, help students be more visually lively during practice hours, and preserve for a long time.

Technician Vi Kim Ngoc (short hair) by a microscope in 1967.

The collection of paintings on mosquitoes by Vi Kim Ngoc includes 44 paintings of mosquitoes, accompanied by 3 manuscripts of the characteristics and structure of each type of mosquito. The paintings were drawn by technician Vi Kim Ngoc on cardboard and cut into A4 size. Each drawing is carefully wrapped by a double sheet of A3 paper. All are clamped in a green cover, the cover has the words "External appearance" by Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc wrote. For 50 years, the covers were torn at the edges and curled; The paintings have faded but still retain sharpness and sophistication.

Up to now, with the development of modern technology, Vi Kim Ngoc's paintings are not used by students in practice hours anymore but they are valuable assets bearing a historical period in the training and teaching of the Department of Parasitology in particular, of the Hanoi Medical University in general.

The collection of mosquito paintings that Ms. Vi Kim Ngoc drew since 1963 has been awarded to the Vietnam Science Heritage Center. Assoc.Prof. Dr. Pham Van Than - a student who was close to her during the course of the work, hoped that these documents would be kept, preserved and promoted its scientific value.