Pan Dakui

Pan Dakui was born in 1902 in Kaixian, Sichuan (now Kaizhou District, Chongqing). He graduated from Tsinghua School in 1924 and subsequently went to the United States for further study. He obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University and a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. During his time abroad, he also received military training at Norwich University.^[2][3]

After returning to China in 1930, Pan held academic positions at several institutions, including Shanghai Law College, Yunnan University, and Chongqing University. He taught courses in political science, history of political thought, constitutional law, and diplomatic history, and became the first dean of the Faculty of Law at Chongqing University in 1945.^[4]

Pan was also active in political and intellectual movements. In 1935, he participated in founding the Shanghai Cultural Circles' National Salvation Association and joined the National Salvation Federation the following year.^[5] During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was involved in organizing democratic movements in Kunming and became a member of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. He worked alongside figures such as Wen Yiduo in promoting democratic reform and resistance against Japanese aggression. In 1945, he delivered public speeches opposing civil war and supporting patriotic student movements.^[6][7]

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Pan held various public offices, including Vice Minister of Culture and Education of the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee and Vice Chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.^[8] He also served as a member of multiple sessions of the National People's Congress and held leadership roles within the China Democratic League in Sichuan.^[9]

During the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, Pan was wrongly labeled a "rightist" and subjected to political persecution. He was rehabilitated in 1980 and subsequently served as curator of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Culture and History.^[10] In his later years, he continued to contribute to academic and political life as an advisor to the Chinese Political Science Association and the China Law Society.^[11]

Pan Dakui was the author of several influential works, including A History of Constitutions in Europe and America, An Outline of Chinese Constitutional History, and the memoir Ninety Years Through Storms.^[12]

He died in Chengdu on June 26, 1991, at the age of 90.^[13]