Soong Ching-ling
Chinese first lady
Died when: 91 years 122 days (1096 months)Star Sign: Aquarius
Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure.As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen.
She was a member of the Soong family and, together with her siblings, played a prominent role in China's politics prior to and after 1949.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, she held several prominent positions in the new government, including Vice Chairman (1949–1954; 1959–1975) and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1954–1959; 1975–1981), traveled abroad during the early 1950s, representing her country at a number of international events.
During the Cultural Revolution, however, she was heavily criticized.Following the purge of President Liu Shaoqi in 1968, she and Dong Biwu as Vice Presidents became de facto Heads of State of China until 1972, when Dong was appointed Acting President.
Soong survived the political turmoil during the Cultural Revolution but appeared less frequently after 1976.As the acting Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1976 to 1978, Soong was again the acting Head of State.
During her final illness in May 1981, she was given the special title of "Honorary President of the People's Republic of China".
Soong was the first female head of state of modern China, a position that did not appear again until 2016 when Tsai Ing-wen assumed the presidency of the Republic of China, which is the polity that now governs Taiwan.
