Birth:
December 26, 1893, Hunan Province, China
Death:
September 9, 1976, Beijing, China
Early Influences:
- Born into a well-to-do peasant family
- Exposed to the political upheaval brought by Sun Yat-sen
- Given an orchestral post at Weimar in 1703 (age 18)
Education:
- Attended local primary school where he studied Confucian classics
- Studied for half of a year alone; prone to independent study throughout his life
- Graduated from Hunan First Normal School in 1918
Major Accomplishments:
- One of the three great theorists of Marxian Communism (Marx and Lenin were the other two)
- Founding member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921
- Gained control of China in 1949
- One of three peasants to rise to rule all of China
Significance:
- Unified China by bringing down the Nationalists
- Led one of the greatest social revolutions in human history
- His themes have impacted many parts of the Third World
Contemporaries:
