John Morrison Riddell-Swan

Li Dehong was born in 1924 in Tengzhou. When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out in 1937, he was attending middle school in Jinan and moved south with his family to continue his studies. During his time at Central University in Nanjing, he witnessed the Japanese invasion, which energized his patriotic resistance. After Japan's surrender in 1945, facing the expansionist warfare of the Kuomintang reactionaries, he transferred to Shanghai Jiao Tong University and actively participated in patriotic democratic student movements. In 1946, he transferred to the National Ying Shi University in Jinhua, Zhejiang, engaging in student activism, and in 1948, he joined the New Democratic Youth League. The same year, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In the fall of 1948, he concealed his party work by teaching at Daonan Middle School in Changzhou, promoting revolutionary ideas and guiding students to oppose the civil war. On the eve of liberation, he was recalled to Shanghai, where he organized a workers' association and participated in factory protection movements. After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, he was responsible for labor wages at Jiangnan Shipyard. In 1955, he was appointed director of Huayuan Dye Factory, and in 1956, he attended an intellectuals' work conference before transferring to the Chemical Research Institute to engage in scientific research. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, he was persecuted due to his "brother-in-law" relationship but was not found to have any substantial links with Liu Shaoqi. After the downfall of the "Gang of Four" in 1976, Li Dehong resumed work, serving as deputy director of the Shanghai Petrochemical General Plant Research Institute. He retired in 1988. After retirement, he continued engaged in scientific research, participated in the Association of Old Science and Technology Workers, published papers, and obtained two patents for paper wastewater treatment, contributing actively to society and demonstrating his patriotic love and diligent dedication.