Zhang Wentian

Zhang Wentian
5th General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
In office
January 1935  20 March 1943
Leader Mao Zedong
Preceded by Bo Gu
Succeeded by Mao Zedong (chairman)
Head of Propaganda Department
In office
April 1931  December 1934
Preceded by Shen Zemin
Succeeded by Wu Liangping
In office
July 1937  December 1942
Preceded by Wu Liangping
Succeeded by Lu Dingyi
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Soviet Union
In office
April 1951  January 1955
Preceded by Wang Jiaxiang
Succeeded by Liu Xiao
Personal details
Born (1900-08-30)30 August 1900
Nanhui, Shanghai, Qing Empire
Died 1 July 1976(1976-07-01) (aged 75)
Beijing, China
Political party Communist Party of China
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley, Moscow Sun Yat-sen University

Zhang Wentian (simplified Chinese: 张闻天; traditional Chinese: 張聞天; pinyin: Zhāng Wéntiān; Wade–Giles: Chang Wen-t'ien; 30 August 1900 1 July 1976). He was also known as Luo Fu (Chinese: 洛甫; Wade–Giles: Lo Fu).

Born in Nanhui, Jiangsu Province (now in Shanghai), he attended engineering school in Nanjing and spent a year at the University of California. He later joined the Communist Party and was sent to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow from 1926 to 1930. He was one of the group known as the 28 Bolsheviks, but switched to supporting Mao Zedong during the Long March. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1943, when the post was abolished.[1] He remained a member of the Politburo, but ranked 12th of 13 in the 7th Politburo and reduced to Alternate Member in the 8th Politburo.

He was First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China from December 1954 to November 1960.[2] He was a participant of the Long March, and later served as an ambassador to the Soviet Union from April 1951 to January 1955. At the Lushan Conference in 1959 he supported Peng Dehuai and lost power along with Peng.[3] During the Cultural Revolution he was attacked as an ally of Peng and Liu Shaoqi; he was rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping after Mao's death.

References

  1. Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China, Pelican edition 1972, page 553.
  2. Zhang Wentian (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China)
  3. Great Soviet Encyclopaedia
Political offices
Preceded by
Mao Zedong
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Chinese Soviet Republic
1934
Chinese Soviet Republic disbanded
Party political offices
Preceded by
Shen Zemin
Head of the CPC Central Propaganda Department
1931–1934
Succeeded by
Wu Liangping
Preceded by
Bo Gu
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
1935–1945
Succeeded by
Deng Xiaoping
Abolished until 1954
Preceded by
Wu Liangping
Head of the CPC Central Propaganda Department
1937–1943
Succeeded by
Lu Dingyi
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