Liu Shaoqi

Chairman of the People's Republic of China

24 November 1898 Ningxiang, Hunan, Qing Empire

12 November 1969(1969-11-12) (70) Kaifeng, Henan, People’s Republic of China

27 April 1959 – 31 October 1968

2nd President of the People's Republic of China (1898–1969) In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu. Liu Shaoqi刘少奇 Chairman of the People's Republic of ChinaIn office 27 April 1959 – 31 October 1968PremierZhou EnlaiVice President Dong Biwu and Soong Ching-lingLeaderMao Zedong (Chairman of the Communist Party of China)Preceded by Mao ZedongSucceeded by Dong Biwu and Soong Ching-ling (acting)Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's CongressIn office September 15, 1954 – April 28, 1959Preceded by Position establishedSucceeded by Zhu DeFirst Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of ChinaIn office 28 September 1956 – 1 August 1966ChairmanMao ZedongPreceded by Position establishedSucceeded by Lin BiaoMember of the National People's CongressIn office 15 September 1954 – 21 October 1968ConstituencyBeijing At-large Personal detailsBorn(1898-11-24 ) 24 November 1898 Ningxiang, Hunan, Qing EmpireDied12 November 1969(1969-11-12) (aged 70) Kaifeng, Henan, People’s Republic of ChinaNationalityChinesePolitical partyCommunist Party of China (1921–1968)Spouse(s)ZhouHe Baozhen ​ ​(m. 1923; died 1934)​Xie Fei ​ ​(m. 1935; div. 1940)​Wang Qian ​ ​(m. 1942; div. 1943)​Wang JianWang Guangmei ​(m. 1948⁠–⁠1969)​ChildrenLiu Yunbin Liu Aiqin Liu Yunruo Liu Tao Liu Ding Liu Pingping Liu Yuan Liu Tingting Liu Xiaoxiao Liu ShaoqiSimplified Chinese刘少奇 Traditional Chinese劉少奇 TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinLiú Shàoqí Gwoyeu RomatzyhLiou Shawchyi Wade–GilesLiu2 Shao4-ch'i2 IPA Liu Shaoqi (pronounced ; 24 November 1898 – 12 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1956 to 1966 and Chairman of the People's Republic of China, the de jure head of state, from 1959 to 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China. For 15 years, Liu was the second most powerful man in China, behind only Chairman Mao Zedong. Originally groomed as Mao's successor, Liu antagonized him in the early 1960s before the Cultural Revolution. From 1966 onward, Liu was criticized and then purged by Mao. In 1968, Liu disappeared from public life and was labelled the "commander of China's bourgeoisie headquarters", China's foremost "capitalist-roader", and a traitor to the revolution. He was tortured to death during the Cultural Revolution, but was posthumously rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping's government in 1980 and granted a national memorial service.