Luo Ronghuan

Marshal Luo Ronghuan
罗荣桓
Luo Ronghuan in his Marshal uniform
Director of the People's Liberation Army General Political Department and Secretary of the PLA Commission for Discipline Inspection
In office 1961–1963
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Tan Zheng
In office 17 September 1955 – 1956
Preceded by	Tan Zheng
Succeeded by	Xiao Hua
Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
In office 1949–1954
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Zhang Dingcheng
Personal details
Born	(1902-11-26)26 November 1902 Hengshan County, Hunan Province, Qing dynasty
Died	16 December 1963(1963-12-16) (aged 61) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Occupation	General, politician, writer
Awards	Order of Bayi (First Class Medal) Order of Independence and Freedom (First Class Medal) Order of Liberation (China) (First Class Medal)
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1927-1963
Rank	Marshal of People's Republic of China
Commands	Political Commissar of the Northeast Field Army, PLA
Battles/wars	Northern Expedition，Long March，Hundred Regiments Offensive，Chinese Civil War

Luo Ronghuan (simplified Chinese: 罗荣桓; traditional Chinese: 羅榮桓; pinyin: Luó Rónghuán; Wade–Giles: Lo Jung-huan; November 26, 1902 – December 16, 1963) was a Chinese communist military leader. He served as a Vice Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Biography

Luo was born in a village in Hengshan County, Hunan Province. In 1919, at the age of 17, he enrolled in Xiejun Middle School in Changsha. Five years later, he began attending Shandong University (then Qingdao Private College), completing a preparatory course in Industry in Commerce in 1926. He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in April 1927 and the Chinese Communist Party later that year. During the Long March he served as the security chief for the Chinese Red Army.

After World War II, Luo served as the political commissar of Lin Biao in Northeast China during the Chinese civil war. Unbeknownst to outsiders, Luo's contribution to the communist victory in the northeast and hence to a great degree, elsewhere in mainland China was far greater than what was previously publicized, and in fact, greater than that of Lin Biao. The reason is that people often overlooked Luo's political contribution by concentrating on Lin Biao's military victories. However, Lin Biao, or any other communist commanders would never be able to achieve any military victory if there is not any strong and stable political support from the troops and the general populace. This is where Luo's importance proved to be critical: Luo's skillful political work ensured the troops' loyalty and popular support of the communists.

After the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 he became Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army. He was made a marshal in 1955.

Luo was the member of the 7th CPC Central Committee and 8th CPC Politburo. When Luo died in 1963, both Mao and Lin Biao attended his funeral; his funeral was one of the only two funerals Marshal Lin Biao attended, the other being the funeral of his former chief of staff and commander-in-chief of the PLA air force General Liu Yalou.

External links

• Template:Zh icon Biography of Luo Ronghuan, Xinhuanet

See also

• List of generals of the People's Republic of China