Nguyen Van Can was born in 1918 in the district of Van Giang, Hung Yen province. He participated in the Viet Minh before the August Revolution in 1945 and afterwards became the secretary of the Youth National Salvation Association (thanh nien cuu quoc) in the commune of Xuan Quang. He was also secretary and chairman (chu tich) of Xuan Quang.