CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Bảo Đại

Last emperor of Vietnam from 1926 to 1945 (1913–1997)

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 26, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Bảo Đại, born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was de jure emperor of Đại Nam, which consisted of the French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin within French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bảo Đại” is last emperor of Vietnam from 1926 to 1945 (1913–1997). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Last, emperor and Vietnam, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1926, 1945, 1932—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Last, emperor and Vietnam is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “last emperor of Vietnam from 1926 to 1945 (1913–1997)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1926, 1945 and 1932.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Bảo Đại”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Bảo Đại primary sources, Bảo Đại archive and Last research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bảo Đại”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Bảo Đại” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.