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

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (pronounced ; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1983 to 1988 under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping and t ...

. She was the First Lady of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 1983 to 1988.

Career

Lin graduated from

Tong De Medical College Tong De Medical College ( Chinese:同德医学院) (1918-1952), in Shanghai, China, was one of the three medical schools merged to establish Shanghai Second Medical College in 1952. The other two were Medical School of Aurora University and Medi ...

in 1949. Until the 1980s, she held positions as a pediatrician at the

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

Provincial Hospital, the vice-president of the

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

Women and Children's Health Institute, a committee member on the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

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,

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

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.

First Lady

Lin, like other Chinese first ladies, 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. Lin accompanied Li Xiannian to the USA during the first official visit of the

leader 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 Li Xiaolin (; born 1 June 1961) is a Chinese businesswoman, currently serving as vice-president of the China Datang Corporation, a state-owned power generation enterprise. She is the former CEO of China Power International Development (SEHK: ...

, and one son, Li Ping. Lin also raised Li's daughter from his first marriage, Li Jin.

References

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