Zhu De

Zhu De (朱德; /ˈdʒuː ˈdʌ/; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party.

Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at age nine. His uncle provided him with a superior early education that led to his admission into a military academy. After graduating, he joined a rebel army and became a warlord. It was after this period that he adopted communism. Joining the Chinese Communist Party, he ascended through the ranks of the Chinese Red Army as it closed in on securing the nation in the Chinese Civil War.

By the time the Communist Party won the Civil War, Zhu was a high-ranking official within the party. He served as commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army during the Chinese Communist Revolution, and the People's Liberation Army after liberation. In 1955, he ranked first among the ten founding marshals of the People's Republic of China, of which he is regarded as one of the principal founders. Zhu remained a prominent political figure until his death in 1976. As the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1975 to 1976, Zhu was the head of state of the People's Republic of China.