The auction was part of a festival to honor generous contributors to the province’s Sponsorial Association for Poor Patients. The event also marked the fifth anniversary of the organization.

Photographer Tran Lam, also the association chairman, took the photo in May 2006. It was sold Saturday to the Tan Tao Investment and Industry Corporation.

The money will be used to pay for operations for poor children with congenital heart diseases in the Mekong Delta region, the association said.

Lam said he was happy he could help convey Uncle Ho’s affection for the poor.

The photographer also presented a copy of the photo to President Nguyen Minh Triet and another to Vietnam’s Photographers Association.

Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum is located at the Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi.

Reported by Chu Thu Hao