Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong also known by his courtesy name Mao Runzhi and the title Chairman Mao as Chairman of the Communist Party of China and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC), was a Chinese communist revolutionary who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) as Leader of the Communist Party of China from 1943 to his death in 1976 and became the founding father of the PRC when it was established in 1949. In addition, he was also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1954 to 1976. Although he was only formally the head of state until 1959, first as Chairman of the Central People's Government (1949 to 1954) and then as Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1954 to 1959) and was succeeded as head of state by Liu Shaoqi, his control over the party and military made him the de facto leader of the PRC from 1949 to 1976 and the paramount leader of the country's first generation of leadership. His theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought within the PRC, an ideology that remains a part of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, despite dramatic changes to government policy and ideological orientation after his death.

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