Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (26 December 1893 - 9 September 1976) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China, proclaiming it in October 1949 and leading the country until his death, chiefly as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. His theoretical writings, known as Mao Zedong Thought, presented themselves as a Chinese adaptation of Marxism-Leninism. He launched the Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1962, an agricultural collectivization and industrialization campaign that produced a catastrophic famine, and in 1966 initiated the Cultural Revolution, a decade of violent class struggle and destruction of historical artifacts. His policies are estimated to have caused tens of millions of deaths through famine, political persecution, prison labor and executions, while he is also credited with transforming China into a major world power and expanding literacy, women's rights, healthcare and education. He was succeeded after his death first by Hua Guofeng and then by Deng Xiaoping.