Faina Chiang Fang-liang (, born Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva (russian: Фаина Ипатьевна Вахрева, be, Фаіна Іпацьеўна Вахрава; 15 May 1916 – 15 December 2004) was the
First Lady of the Republic of China on
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
from 1978 to 1988 as the wife of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Chiang Ching-kuo.
Early life
On 15 May 1916, Faina was born near
Orsha
Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers.
History
Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as R ...
, then part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
, now in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
. Faina was orphaned at a young age and raised by her older sister Anna.
Career
At age 16, as a member of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
's
Communist Youth League, Faina worked at the
Ural Heavy Machinery Plant, where she met
Chiang Ching-kuo, her supervisor.
Biography
In December 1936,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
granted Chiang's return to China.
By some other account, however, the couple fled fearing arrest of Chiang Ching-kuo.
After the couple was received by
Chiang Kai-shek and his wife
Soong Mei-ling in
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...
, they traveled to the Chiang home in
Xikou,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
, where they held a second marriage ceremony.
Fang-liang stayed behind to live with Chiang Ching-kuo's mother,
Mao Fumei. She was assigned a tutor to learn
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
, but she learned the local
Ningbo dialect of
Wu Chinese
The Wu languages (; Wu romanization and IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] ( Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zhejiang Provin ...
instead.
She reportedly got along well with Mao Fumei and did her own housework.
As a First lady
When Chiang Ching-kuo became
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, Fang-liang rarely performed the traditional roles of First Lady. That is partly due to her lack of formal education; her husband also encouraged her not to get into politics.
She largely stayed out of the public spotlight
and little was ever known of her in an anti-communist atmosphere in the government. She never returned to Russia, and traveled abroad only three times in the last 50 years of her life, all to visit her children and their families. In 1992, she received a visit from a delegation including future president
Alexander Lukashenko, a mayor of
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...
(the capital of
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
) at the time.
It was the only time that she made contact with anyone from her homeland as First Lady.
Personal life
Faina met
Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, while working at the
Ural Heavy Machine Plant in
Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR. On 15 March 1935, aged 18, Faina married him.
Children
On 14 December 1935, their first son
Chiang Hsiao-wen was born in the Soviet Union.
Each of her three younger children were born in different parts of China, reflecting turbulent years as an official of China.
Faina had four children:
*
Chiang Hsiao-wen (b. 1935,
Sverdlovsk)
*
Chiang Hsiao-chang (b. 1938 in
Nanchang)
*
Chiang Hsiao-wu
Chiang Hsiao-wu (; also known as Alex Chiang; April 25, 1945 - July 1, 1991) was the second son of Chiang Ching-kuo, the President of the Republic of China in Taiwan from 1978 to 1988. His mother is Faina Ipatyevna Vakhreva, also known as Chiang F ...
(b. 1945 in
Chekiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
)
*
Chiang Hsiao-yung (b. 1948 in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
).
All her children were sent to study in foreign universities
– Hsiao-wen to
West Point and
Park College, MO, Hsiao-wu to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
and the remaining children to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. All three sons died shortly after Ching-kuo's death in 1988: Hsiao-wen in April 1989, Hsiao-wu in July 1991, and Hsiao-yung in December 1996.
Fang-liang then lived in the suburbs of
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
. She received occasional visitors, such as some prominent politicians who went to pay their respects every few years. In the Taiwanese media, if she ever received coverage, she was depicted as a virtuous wife who never complained and endured her loneliness with dignity.
Death
Chiang died of respiratory and cardiac failure stemming from
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...
in
Taipei Veterans General Hospital at the age of 88 (or 89 according to
East Asian age reckoning).
Legacy
Chiang's funeral was held on 27 December 2004, with President
Chen Shui-bian and Vice President
Annette Lu in attendance.
Kuomintang politicians
Wang Jin-pyng,
Lin Cheng-chih,
P. K. Chiang, and
Ma Ying-jeou draped her casket with the
Kuomintang party flag, and Kuomintang party elders
Lee Huan,
Hau Pei-tsun,
Chiu Chuang-huan, and
Shih Chi-yang draped her casket with the
ROC national flag.
Chiang was cremated and her ashes taken to her husband's temporary
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...
in
Touliao,
Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City). They were buried together in the
Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery
The Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery (, sometimes romanized as ''Wuchih'') is Taiwan's most prominent military cemetery. The cemetery is located on Wuzhi Mountain () at an elevation of in Xizhi, New Taipei City and borders Taipei City's Neihu ...
.
See also
*
Cafe Astoria
*
Franziska Donner
Francesca Maria Barbara Donner ( ko, 프란체스카 도너; ''Peurancheseuka Doneo''; June 15, 1900March 19, 1992) was the inaugural First Lady of South Korea, from 1948 to 1960, as the second wife of Syngman Rhee, the first president of the R ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Love to Fang-liang - the Chiang Family Album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Fang-liang
1916 births
2004 deaths
People from Orsha District
People from Vitebsk Governorate
Chiang Kai-shek family
First Ladies of the Republic of China
Soviet emigrants to China
Taiwanese people of Belarusian descent
Deaths from respiratory failure