Liu Chi-chun

Liu Chi-chun was born in 1908 to a merchant family in Sou-tseu, Kiangsu, Qing China. She was the distant cousin of her later husband Yen Chia-kan, who was a student at the Government Central School. She married him in 1924 through an arranged marriage by their parents, after his first wife died in 1923. She bore him nine children and took care of them and her husband's family. She did not participate in political activities, but supported her husband's career. He became the President of the Republic of China in 1975, after the death of Chiang Kai-shek, and she became the First Lady. She remained in this role until 1978, when her husband stepped down. She then lived a quiet life and avoided public attention. She died on December 24, 1999, at the age of 91, from lung, liver and kidney diseases, at the official residence in Taipei. She was buried next to her husband in the Republic Of China Military Cemetery. Liu Chi-chun was a devoted wife and mother, who spared her husband worries about his family and helped him in his political endeavors. She was also a kind and generous woman, who donated to charities and helped the poor and the refugees.