Li Dequan Explained

Office1:	Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China
Term Start1:	19 October 1949
Term End1:	4 January 1964
Predecessor1:	Position established
Successor1:	Qian Xinzhong
Li Dequan
Native Name:	李德全
Native Name Lang:	zh
Birth Date:	9 August 1896
Birth Place:	Tongzhou, Shuntian Prefecture, Zhili, China (now Tongzhou District, Beijing, China)
Death Place:	Beijing, China
Party:	Chinese Communist Party
Children:	4

Li Dequan (Li Teh-Chuan^[1] ; 1896–1972) was the first Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1965.^{[2] [3]}

History

Li was born in Tong County, Beijing. In her early years, she would take part in pro-democracy campaigns. Dequan later graduated from the Methodist Women's College and worked as a pastor's assistant at a Congregational church.^{[4] [5]} She was married to Feng Yuxiang in 1924. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, she organized the "War-time Children Fostering Commission" and served as vice chairman. After the war, she founded All-China Women's Federation and became its chairman. In January 1948, she was elected central executive member of Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang. She joined the Chinese Communist Party in December 1958. She was elected to serve on the Executive Council of the Women's International Democratic Federation in 1948,^[6] and re-elected in 1953.^[7]

After the formation of the People's Republic of China, Li was appointed the first Minister of Health of the PRC central government and she supported legalization of abortion.^{[8] [9]} She also served as chairman of the Red Cross Society of China. Her other posts included vice chairman of the China-USSR Friendship Association, member of the Commission of Culture and Education of the State Council, vice chairman of the China National Sports Commission, and vice chairman of the China People's National Commission of Children Protection.

Li also served as a standing committee member of 1st to 3rd Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and vice chairman of 4th CPPCC.

She died in Beijing in 1972.

References

1. Book: Le parti communiste chinois au pouvoir . 9782228335904 . 1979 . Payot .
2. Book: Lee . Lily Xiao Hong . Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women . Stefanowska . A. D. . Wiles . Sue . 1998 . M.E. Sharpe . 978-0-7656-0798-0 . 302 . en.
3. Book: Medical Transitions in Twentieth-Century China . 9780253014948 . 14 August 2014 . Indiana University Press .
4. Book: Mao's Prey: The History of Chen Renbing, Liberal Intellectual . 9781317775614 . 28 January 2016 . Routledge .
5. Book: Who was Who in the People's Republic of China: With more than 3100 Portraits . 9783110968231 . 18 June 2012 . Walter de Gruyter .
6. Joliot-Curie . Irène . Irène Joliot-Curie . Second Women's International Congress WIDF 1948 . Women's International Democratic Federation . 2 November 2023 . Paris, Ile-de-France . 1949 . 1st.
7. . As One! For Equality, For Happiness, For Peace . . 23 November 2023 . East Berlin, East Germany . 1953 . Executive Committee of the Women's International Democratic Federation . 264–265.
8. Book: Contemporary China: Economic and Social Studies, Translations, Documents, Chronology, Bibliography, Indexes . 1956 . Hong Kong University Press .
9. Book: Governing China's Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics . 9780804748803 . 2005 . Stanford University Press .