Van Cao was a famous Vietnamese composer born on November 15th, 1923 in Nam Dinh into a poor worker's family. He started composing music when he was very young and wrote his first song in 1939, quickly becoming famous. In 1944, he wrote Tien Quan Ca, which became the national anthem of Vietnam. Van Cao not only wrote songs and poems, but also drew paintings. He died on July 10th, 1995.