Bernard Fall (1967):
the French janitor at the University of Hanoi received a base pay that was slightly higher than that of a Vietnamese professor with a Ph.D. from the University of Paris.
No source is given for this claim. Is it true and what are some sources?
Partial answer
The text you cite refers to a period before 1927 and Governor Varenne's reforms.
At that time, at most one person could qualify as a Vietnamese professor with a Ph.D. from the University of Paris, namely Professor Le Van Kim (1901-1945):
ingénieur des Ponts et chaussés, obtient ensuite un double doctorat ès lettres et en droit de l’Université de Paris. Recruté comme professeur titulaire de l’enseignement supérieur sur l’intervention personnelle d’Albert Sarraut malgré les réticences du recteur Thalamas, Kim enseigna le droit et l’économie à l’École supérieure de Droit. Révolté par la répression de 1930, il demanda sa mise en disponibilité et exerça la profession d’avocat à la cour d’appel de Saigon tout en militant avec Trinh Dinh Thao et d’autres confrères européens dans la Ligue des droits de l’homme.
engineer from Ponts et Chaussées (wiki), then received a double PhD in Literature and Law from the University of Paris. Recruited as a full professor of higher education on the personal intervention of Albert Sarraut despite the reluctance of rector Thalamas, Kim taught law and economics at the Higher School of Law. Revolted by the repression of 1930, he requested to be released and practiced the profession of lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Saigon while campaigning with Trinh Dinh Thao and other European colleagues in the Human Rights League.
It is not specified what year exactly he started teaching in Hanoi, but it is possible that he was there in 1927, when he turned 26, or at least before Varenne's reforms became effective. No previous employement is mentioned, and 26yo is a plausible age to finish such long studies as his. (This is a bit speculative, but the fact Le Van Kim has two famous namesakes doesn't help with online searches….)
Only two other Vietnamese professors would teach as professors at the University of Hanoi before 1945, but Nam Son had not studied at the University of Paris and Hô Dac Di did not come back to Vietnam before 1931. There would also be more and more local lecturers and assistants until WWII, but those were not professors.
I found no statement as to whether a Vietnamese professor, and Le Van Kim in particular, was less paid than French ones, but professors were clearly much better paid than locals exercising administrative professions:
Les professeurs de l’Université de Hanoi recevaient une solde similaire à celle de leurs collègues des universités provinciales en France. En 1929, un professeur titulaire de l’enseignement supérieur de 5e classe recevait 18 000 francs et celui de 1ère classe, 42 000 francs. De plus, ils percevaient une indemnité coloniale de 1 500 à 8 000 francs par an. Les chargés de cours, d’après le Règlement général de l’Enseignement supérieur (1918), étaient rétribués 80 francs l’heure (à l’École de Médecine et l’École de Droit) ou 60 francs l’heure (dans les autres Écoles). À titre de comparaison, la solde mensuelle d’un fonctionnaire vietnamien dans les services coloniaux en même temps était de 250 à 500 francs. Ces chiffres nous montrent l’inégalité dans le recrutement et les conditions de vie entre les Français et les indigènes.
Professors at the University of Hanoi received a salary similar to that of their colleagues at provincial universities in France. In 1929, a 5th class professor in higher education received 18,000 francs and a 1st class professor, 42,000 francs. In addition, they received a colonial allowance of 1,500 to 8,000 francs per year. Lecturers, according to the General Regulations of Higher Education (1918), were paid 80 francs per hour (at the School of Medicine and the School of Law) or 60 francs per hour (in other Schools). For comparison, the monthly salary of a Vietnamese civil servant in the colonial services at the same time was 250 to 500 francs. These figures show us the inequality in recruitment and living conditions between the French and the natives.
I would also express skepticism regarding whether there were any French janitors at Hanoi University, but any information about this is even harder to research. Possibly Bernard Fall made a general comparison that shouldn't be taken literally.
Reading this thesis would be useful, but I don't have full access to it.
