Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo (December 28, 1955 - July 13, 2017), a native of Changchun, Jilin Province, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, was a writer, social activist, literary critic, and human rights activist in the People's Republic of China. He was the former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Society, editor-in-chief of the "Democratic China" online magazine, and one of the main drafters of "Charter 08". Liu Xiaobo graduated from the Chinese Department of Jilin University with a bachelor's degree, and received a master's degree and a doctorate in literature and art from the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University. He was a lecturer in the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University. He was later arrested and imprisoned for his main role in the June 4th Incident. He devoted his life to publicizing and participating in the Chinese democracy movement aimed at ending the one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party of China. He was arrested and sentenced many times. In 1995, he was detained by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau under the form of "residential surveillance". In 1999, he was sentenced to three years of reeducation through labor for "disturbing social order." In 2009, he was arrested on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power" and was sentenced to 11 years in prison and deprived of political rights for two years on December 25 of the same year. In 2010, Liu Xiaobo received the Nobel Peace Prize from the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee, becoming the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to win the prize. Liu Xiaobo is the third person to win the Nobel Prize while serving a sentence or in detention, following Carl von Ossietzky of Germany (1935) and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (1991). He is also the only Nobel Prize winner in history who failed to regain full personal freedom from the time he was awarded the prize until his death. In June 2017, Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer and was approved by the Chinese government for medical parole. He was subsequently treated in isolation from the outside world at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang. At 17:35 on July 13, the hospital announced that Liu Xiaobo's condition had worsened and he passed away due to multiple organ failure. He was 61 years old after resuscitation failed. His body was cremated at about 6:30 on July 15, 2017, Beijing time, and buried at sea at noon that day.