Zhang Chunqiao

Born on February 1, 1917 in Juye County, Shandong Province.

In 1938 he joined the Chinese Communist Party .

In 1966 - 1969 was a member of the Cultural Revolution Group . Together with his wife, Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing , as well as Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen, belonged to the group of leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, known as the "Gang of Four", which was later accused of counter-revolutionary activities during the Cultural Revolution.

After the death of Mao Zedong, a power struggle broke out in China, which resulted in the arrest of Zhang Chunqiao and other members of the Gang of Four in 1976 . In 1981, Zhang Chunqiao was sentenced to death by a special tribunal of the Supreme People's Court with a 2-year suspended sentence ^[4] .

In 1983, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with life imprisonment of political rights, and in 1997 was commuted to imprisonment for 18 years with imprisonment of political rights for 10 years. In 1998, for health reasons, he was released on bail for treatment outside the prison ^[5] .

He died in a hospital in Shanghai from cancer ^[6] on April 21, 2005.