Chen Chi-lu (; 27 April 1923 – 6 October 2014) was a Taiwanese politician, historian and anthropologist. He was the first Minister of the

Council for Cultural Affairs The Ministry of Culture (MOC, ) is the ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that promotes cultural and creative industries. The ministry also maintains thNational Repository of Cultural Heritage History Established in 1981 by Executive Y ...

, taking office in 1981 and serving until 1988.

Education and early career

Chen was born on 27 April 1923 in

Tainan Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County. Population Administrative divisions ...

during the

Japanese rule of Taiwan The island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu Islands, became a dependency of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The shor ...

. Chen moved with his parents when he was still a child to China, then Japan, where he attended First Senior High School in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Chen then returned to China, enrolling at St. John's University in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. He received his bachelor's degree in political science and economics in 1948. Upon graduation from Shanghai, Chen returned to Taiwan and worked for ''Public Opinion Daily'' () as an editor. He obtained his master's degree at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1954. Subsequently, Chen began teaching anthropology at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

(NTU). He earned his doctoral degree in sociology from

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in Japan in 1966, after which he became a professor of anthropology at NTU. Later he became an academician at the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

Later career and death

While leading the Council for Cultural Affairs, Chen hosted various art exhibitions, proposed the establishment of folk and cultural parks and preserved old traditional architecture in Taiwan. Chen died on 6 October 2014 due to multiple organ failure.

References

1923 births 2014 deaths Taiwanese Ministers of Culture Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Tainan 20th-century Taiwanese historians Taiwanese anthropologists St. John's University, Shanghai alumni University of New Mexico alumni University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of the National Taiwan University Members of Academia Sinica {{Taiwan-politician-stub