He Xiangning

He Xiangning (Chinese: 何香凝; Wade–Giles: Ho Hsiang-ning; 27 June 1878 – 1 September 1972) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter, and poet. Together with her husband Liao Zhongkai, she was one of the earliest members of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement Tongmenghui. As Minister for Women's Affairs in Sun's Nationalist government in Guangzhou (Canton), she advocated equal rights for women and organized China's first rally for International Women's Day in 1924. After her husband's assassination in 1925 and Chiang Kai-shek's persecution of the Communists in 1927, she stayed away from party politics for two decades, but actively worked to organize resistance against the Japanese invasion of China. In 1948, she cofounded the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. She served in many high-ranking positions after the foundation of the People's Republic of China, including Vice Chairwoman of the CPPCC (1954–64), Vice Chairwoman of the National People's Congress (1959–72), Chairwoman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (1960–72), and Honorary Chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation. He Xiangning was a renowned painter of the Lingnan School of Chinese art and served as Chairwoman of the China Artists Association in the 1960s. The National He Xiangning Art Museum was opened in Shenzhen in 1997, and her paintings have been featured on Chinese stamps.