Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Political Activist. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in trying to bring about democratic change in his home country of China. He graduated from Jilin University in 1982 and continued his studies at Beijing Normal University, earning a Ph.D. in 1988. By then, he had established himself as a prolific and erudite critic of the Chinese Communist government. He went on a lecture tour of Norway and the United States in 1988–89, returning to Beijing as the pro-democracy movement in that city began to gather strength. As the protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing were getting underway in the spring of 1989, he served as an advisor to the protestors. After the Chinese military forcibly cleared the square on June 3-4, 1989, he went into hiding. He was arrested two days later and spent the next twenty-one months in prison. He was released in 1996 and continued his criticism of the government. He was arrested again for this and spent the next three years in a prison camp. In 2008 he helped to draft "Charter 08", a 19-point program that called for major political reforms in China. He was soon arrested after the document's release and would spend the rest of his life in captivity. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his work toward Chinese democracy, but couldn't accept it personally because of his imprisonment. In May of 2017, he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and was hospitalized the following month. He passed away under guard at a state hospital. He was the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in state custody since 1935 recipient Carl von Ossietzky passed away in 1938.
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Political Activist. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in trying to bring about democratic change in his home country of China. He graduated from Jilin University in 1982 and continued his studies at Beijing Normal University, earning a Ph.D. in 1988. By then, he had established himself as a prolific and erudite critic of the Chinese Communist government. He went on a lecture tour of Norway and the United States in 1988–89, returning to Beijing as the pro-democracy movement in that city began to gather strength. As the protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing were getting underway in the spring of 1989, he served as an advisor to the protestors. After the Chinese military forcibly cleared the square on June 3-4, 1989, he went into hiding. He was arrested two days later and spent the next twenty-one months in prison. He was released in 1996 and continued his criticism of the government. He was arrested again for this and spent the next three years in a prison camp. In 2008 he helped to draft "Charter 08", a 19-point program that called for major political reforms in China. He was soon arrested after the document's release and would spend the rest of his life in captivity. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his work toward Chinese democracy, but couldn't accept it personally because of his imprisonment. In May of 2017, he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and was hospitalized the following month. He passed away under guard at a state hospital. He was the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in state custody since 1935 recipient Carl von Ossietzky passed away in 1938.
Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye
Advertisement
See more Xiaobo memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
