Been reading "Say Nothing" by Patrick Keefe and ran across this related tidbit. Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork was imprisoned by the British in 1920 for sedition (replacing the former mayor who had been shot dead by British police in his bed.) MacSwiney died following a 74-day hunger strike. He wrote just before his death that "It is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most, who shall win"
"According to MacSwiney’s biographer*, Dave Hannigan, a young Vietnamese man named Nguyen Tat Thanhn was working in the kitchen of a central London hotel at the time. Upon hearing the news of MacSwiney’s death, he burst into tears, saying “a country with a citizen like this will never surrender”. He returned to Vietnam, changed his name to Ho Chi Minh, and led the Vietnamese resistance movement for three decades, fighting Japanese and French imperialists and later the United States." https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/brixton-remembers-one-of-ireland-s-most-famous-hunger-strikers-1.3674378
*Terence MacSwiney: The Hunger Strike that Rocked an Empire
In yet another irony, "
Brixton Prison is still operational with about 800 prisoners behind its walls. But the days of hunger strikes are far behind Britain’s oldest jail. Ironically, the prison has become known for its food. Since 2014, a charity called The Clink has been operating inside its walls. It trains inmates in culinary arts to equip them for life on the outside. Prisoners prepare and cook fresh, local ingredients which are also served by prisoners to diners looking for something a little different."
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