Russian-born widow of top Chinese Communist dies at 101
Born into an aristocratic family, Lisa Kishkin later married Mao Zedong’s predecessor as Chinese Communist leader, Li Lisan
The Russian-born widow of an early Chinese Communist leader and recipient of France’s Legion d’Honneur died in Beijing on Tuesday, her family said. She was 101.
Lisa Kishkin passed away in a Beijing hospital surrounded by members of her family, relatives said.
She was born in 1914 into an aristocratic Russian family. She studied French and later married Li Lisan, Mao Zedong ’s predecessor as leader of the Communist Party, who later fell out of favour and was officially said to have committed suicide.
The two met in Moscow in the 1930s, where Li had been summoned by Joseph Stalin for “self-criticism” for not obeying orders in the Soviet-backed Communist movement.
One night in 1938, Li was arrested by the NKVD, the precursor to the KGB, as part of Stalin’s purges.
He was freed in 1940, reportedly at the intervention of Zhou Enlai, who later became China’s premier.
Li returned to China, where Kishkin joined him in 1946. Three years later the Communists took power after winning China’s civil war.