The History of R2E and the Micral - The second personal computer

André Truong Trong Thi was born on the 30th of January in 1936 in what is today the Chợ Lớn quarter of Ho Chi Minh City. In early 1950, he moved to France at the age of 14. It’s easy to imagine that he and his family would be eager to leave Vietnam at this time. Ho Chi Minh had declared the independence of North Vietnam in September of 1945, and both the PRC and USSR recognized the DRV as the legitimate government of Vietnam in January of 1950. That war was on the horizon was easy to see. In France, Trong Thi studied at the École française de radioélectricité, graduated, and went to work for Schlumberger. While Schlumberger is now headquartered in Texas and involved in oil, at this time, the company was more involved in logging, surveying, and electrical measurement and mapping; their oil initiatives were just starting. Following his time at Schlumberger, Trong Thi went to work for the new Intertechnique company. Intertechnique specialized in electronics for aviation both on the ground ... Read full article.