Wang Guangmei
| Wang Guangmei | |
|---|---|
| 王光美 | |
 |
|
| Spouse of the President of the People's Republic of China | |
|
In office 27 April 1959 – 21 October 1968 |
|
| President | Liu Shaoqi |
| Preceded by | Jiang Qing |
| Succeeded by | Lin Jiamei |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 September 1921 Tianjin, China |
| Died | 13 October 2006 (aged 85) Beijing, China |
| Spouse(s) |
Liu Shaoqi (m. 21 August 1948 – 12 November 1969, his death) |
| Relations | Wang Zhichang (father) Dong Jieru (mother) Liu Pingping (daughter) Liu Yuan (son) |
| Alma mater | Catholic University of Peking |
Wang Guangmei (Chinese: 王光美; pinyin: Wáng Guāngmĕi; 26 September 1921 – 13 October 2006) was a respected Chinese politician, philanthropist, and First Lady, the wife of Liu Shaoqi, who served as the President of the People's Republic of China from 1959 to 1968.
Wang Guangmei was born in 1921 and grew up in a distinguished and prominent Chinese family. Her father was a government minister and a diplomat; her mother was an educator. Wang Guangmei studied French, Russian and English, and earned a degree in physics from the Catholic University of Peking in Beijing. She also studied at an American missionary university. Described as a sophisticated woman, Wang Guangmei spoke French, English and Russian. In the mid-1940s, Wang Guangmei traveled to the Communist Party headquarters in Yan'an and served as an interpreter during efforts by the American statesman George Marshall to negotiate a truce between the Nationalist government and the Communist rebels. At this occasion, she gained the admiration of many Americans, which would later play a role in charges that she was an American spy.
There, at the age of 24, she met Liu Shaoqi, who was nearly twice her age and had married five times before. For years she served as his secretary, and he was named a key deputy to Chairman Mao Zedong after the Communists took power in 1949. In 1959, Liu was named Chinese President, making him the second most powerful man in the country.
Liu Shaoqi was President of China from 1959 to 1968, when he became one of the first high-level officials to be denounced as a "capitalist roader" and purged by Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution. Also, Wang Guangmei was once widely known in China as its beautiful, articulate, sophisticated first lady. In the early 1960s, the couple traveled abroad on state visits to Afghanistan, Burma, Pakistan and Indonesia. But in 1966, Wang Guangmei was part of a group that purged the party leadership of Tsinghua University, and the effort backfired when she came under attack by a militant opponent who accused her of being a counterrevolutionary. This came at a time when her husband was also under fire by Mao and his deputies for being the leading "capitalist roader".
...
Wikipedia