Li Zhao

Li Zhao (December 20, 1921 – March 11, 2017), born Li Shuxiu and affectionately known as Afeng, was a native of Ningxiang, Hunan. She was born in Gao Gongguan, Su County, Suzhou City, Anhui Province. Her grandfather was a local gentry, and her mother, Gao Huilan, was the second young lady of Gao Gongguan. Her father, Li Zhonghou, was from Nanzhu Township, Ningxiang County, Hunan, and came from a scholarly family, majoring in military surveying.

Li Zhao lost her father at a young age and was raised by her mother. Later, she moved with her mother to Su County, Anhui. She was diligent and eager to learn from a young age, achieved excellent results academically, and was loved by teachers and classmates, earning the nickname "Little Angel." In her youth, in 1937, she joined the anti-Japanese salvation movement, participating in the Su County wartime service team, actively engaging in propaganda activities to resist Japan.

During the Lantern Festival of 1939, Li Zhao bid farewell to her hometown and traveled to Yan'an to study at the Chinese Women's University, changing her name to Li Zhao to signify a new beginning. During her university years, she specialized in Marxist theory, studied cultural and scientific knowledge, and actively participated in social practice. In 1940, she joined the Chinese Communist Party and transferred to Yan'an University to study Russian.

While in Yan'an, she met Hu Yaobang, and the two shared revolutionary ideals, forming a deep friendship. In the winter of 1941, they married. Throughout the war and subsequent revolutionary years, Li Zhao consistently supported her husband, never publicly revealing her political identity, and quietly contributed behind the scenes.

After the founding of New China, Li Zhao served as a standing member of the Beijing Advisory Committee, responsible for policy consulting. She was also the Party Secretary of the Beijing Textile Industry Bureau, contributing to the development of China's textile industry. After retiring from leadership positions in 1997, she actively engaged in social activities, especially focusing on women's and rural people's livelihood issues.

In her family, Li Zhao and Hu Yaobang had four sons and one daughter: the eldest son, Hu Deping; the second son, Liu Hu; the third son, Hu Dehua; and the daughter, Li Heng. In her later years, aside from engaging in social welfare, she served as the President of the Beijing Clothing Association, promoting the development of ethnic-style clothing. Additionally, she frequently traveled to rural areas to assist in developing industries such as sheep, rabbits, and silkworm farming, fostering local economic growth.

Li Zhao passed away in Beijing on March 11, 2017, at the age of 95 due to illness. Her remains were interred in a farewell ceremony at the Babaoshan Crematorium in Beijing on March 17, and she was buried alongside her husband, Hu Yaobang, at the Hu Yaobang Mausoleum on April 15.