Lin Jiamei (; born 21 June 1924) is the widow of former Chinese president

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Chinese Communist Party, Communist military and political leader, president of China from 1983 to 1988 under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and then chairman of the Chinese People's Politi ...

. She was the spouse of the president of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from 1983 to 1988, along with ''de facto'' First Lady

Zhuo Lin Zhuo Lin (April 6, 1916 – July 29, 2009) was the third and last wife of Deng Xiaoping, former Paramount leader of China. Biography Born Pu Qiongying () in Xuanwei, Yunnan province, she was the daughter of an industrialist who manufactured Yu ...

, the wife of then-

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important Supreme leader, political figure in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberatio ...

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

Career

Lin graduated from Tong De Medical College in 1949. Until the 1980s, she held positions as a pediatrician at the

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Provincial Hospital, the vice-president of the

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Women and Children's Health Institute, a committee member on the State Council Family Planning Commission, and chief of the Women and Children's Health Bureau in the Ministry of Health. Lin was a representative at the

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

, 5th and 6th National People's Congresses. She was also a committee member on the 7th and 8th CPPCCs, in addition to being the deputy head of the 8th CPPCC Committee for Science, Education, Culture, Health and Sports. As of 2015, Lin reportedly serves as the president of the Chinese Association for Female Doctors, as well as a consultant to the Chinese Children's Development Center.

Spouse of the president

Lin, like other Chinese president's spouse, did not often appear in public, but accompanied her husband when he met with foreign leaders, both in Beijing and abroad. She became close with her contemporary, U.S. First Lady

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

. Lin accompanied Li Xiannian to the USA during the first official visit of

President of the People's Republic of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...

in July 1985. From 1984, Lin served as the deputy president of the China Medical Committee, as well as bureau chief of the Women and Children's Department of the Ministry of Health.

Personal life

Lin was

's second wife. Together they had two daughters, Li Ziyang and Li Xiaolin, and one son, Li Ping. Lin also raised Li's daughter from his first marriage, Li Jin. On 21 June 2024, she turned 100.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Jiamei Living people 1924 births Family of Li Xiannian Chinese women in politics Chinese paediatricians 20th-century Chinese women physicians 20th-century Chinese physicians People from Danyang Physicians from Jiangsu Chinese women centenarians