Artist Le Mai was born in 1938. She comes from a family where both parents work in the field of theater arts. Her childhood years were spent in the coastal land of Hai Phong, where her father grew up and worked as an artist for most of his life.
Her father is poet and playwright Le Dai Thanh, who was active in the Central Drama Team at the same time as The Lu and Song Kim.
Le Mai’s two younger brothers also made names for themselves in the art field: painter Le Dai Chuc and director and Meritorious Artist Le Chuc.
In 1954, she followed her father to Hanoi to take a job with the Central Theater Troupe led by writer and playwright Hoc Phi at that time. Here, Le Mai met and married artist Tran Tien (later People’s Artist). But due to cracks in family relations, the two later divorced.
Artist Le Mai and her three daughters, Le Van, Le Khanh and Le Vi, gathered to wrap banh chung on Tet (Photo: Character Facebook).
Her three daughters and People’s Artist Tran Tien all became famous artists: Le Van, Le Khanh and Le Vi. At the age of 86, she still lives alone but does not feel lonely because her daughter Le Khanh also moved to Phan Dinh Phung (Hanoi) to live close to her mother.
Share with reporters Dan tri, artist Le Mai said she also has many memories of Tet. She said, when she was a child, if she wanted to have a decent Tet, she had to prepare months in advance. Every child is eager to eat banh chung, sausage, salted meat… dishes that are not easy to get on weekdays. Around Tet, she often goes to Hoe Nhai market near her house to choose the most beautiful peach branches to bring home for Tet display.
“Tet is much more convenient now, there’s everything so you just have to go to the market to buy it, so the taste of Tet today is very different from before. Each time Tet is different, each time has its own interesting and unique things. “I have 2 Western sons-in-law, so my family’s Tet is also very special,” she shared.
The female artist said that her Western sons-in-law have all lived in Vietnam for many years, so they understand Vietnamese culture very well and treat people very politely and properly. For many years, she and her two daughters, Le Van and Le Khanh, have had the habit of wrapping and boiling banh chung themselves. She considers this to be her family’s routine.
“It’s great for a Western son-in-law to come to Vietnam. Le Van’s Dutch husband can’t speak Vietnamese even though he’s in Hanoi. Every time we talk, we talk through Le Van and the children. And Le Vi’s husband is French, he I like Vietnam, the house there still has cupboards and altars, I like banh chung, I like Tet, wherever I go I have good fortune to show it to my mother and give it to my mother.
