Hu Yaobang

Profession: General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Nationality:

Biography: Hu Yaobang was a Chinese reformist Communist leader and a close ally of party leader Deng Xiaoping, who helped liberalize China from its strict Marxist past under Mao Zedong.

Hu Yao Bang joined the Communist party in 1933 and had been part of the Long March in 1934-5. He went on to fight to oust the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War, serving under Deng Xiaoping. During the Cultural Revolution Hu was purged twice and resuscitated twice, eventually moving back into favour in Beijing.

By the 1980s Hu had become one of the inner circle, he was appointed general secretary of the CCP and became one of the prime forces behind China's more pragmatic approach, designed to stimulate more economic growth and aid the country's recovery. Hu also launched an anti-corruption campaign and is remembered for rescuing the career of Xi Zhongxun, father of later party leader Xi Jinping.

Hu was forced to resign from his position in early 1987 and died shortly after of a heart attack in April. His death was widely mourned and was the catalyst for student protests that culminated in the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in June of that year.

Born: November 20, 1915
Birthplace: Liuyang, Hunan, Republic of China

Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit
Star Sign: Scorpio

Died: April 15, 1989 (aged 73)
Cause of Death: Heart attack