Official portrait of Mao Zedong in 1956. Best known as the founding father of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Mao was the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1931 to 1976.
Born on December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan, Hunan Province, China, the Communist revolutionary grew up in a rural farming family. In the early 1920s, he became involved in revolutionary activities and joined the newly formed Communist Party of China (CPC). He played a key role in organizing labor unions and peasant movements.
Mao Zedong developed his own ideology known as Maoism, which blended Marxist-Leninist principles with his own ideas. He emphasized the importance of the peasantry as a revolutionary force and advocated for continuous revolution to achieve socialism. He implemented various policies, such as land reform, collectivization of agriculture, and the Great Leap Forward, which aimed to rapidly industrialize China’s economy but resulted in severe economic and humanitarian crises.
Mao’s influence and legacy remain controversial, and his leadership is subject to ongoing debates and interpretations.
