Song Binbin

Song Binbin (Chinese: 宋彬彬; 1947–September 16, 2024), also known as Song Yaowu (Chinese: 宋要武), was a Chinese woman who, as a 19-year old, began engaging in violence that led to her role as a senior leader in the Chinese Red Guards during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Although Song denied involvement, she was presumed present when a 50-year-old teacher, Bian Zhongyun, was beaten to death by the female students of her school, reportedly the Cultural Revolution's first killing. After the Cultural Revolution, Song studied geology and moved to the United States, eventually receiving a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. Following her naturalisation as a US citizen, she worked for the Massachusetts government before moving back to China and becoming chairwoman of several companies. Although she apologised for her actions in the Cultural Revolution in 2014, this was met with mixed reactions. She died in 2024 at the age of 77.