Zhang Sizhi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zhang Sizhi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
张思之 | |||||||
 Sizhi in 2013 | |||||||
| Born | 12 November 1927 | ||||||
| Died | 24 June 2022 (aged 94) Beijing, China | ||||||
| Occupation(s) | Legal scholar, lawyer | ||||||
| Known for | Civil rights advocacy | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 張思之 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 张思之 | ||||||
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| Weiquan lawyers |
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Zhang Sizhi (Chinese: 张思之; pinyin: Zhāng Sīzhī; 12 November 1927 – 24 June 2022) was an active rights lawyer in China, and a professor at Central University of Finance and Economics.[1] He was known as "The lawyer's conscience".[2][3]
Zhang was born as the eldest of 10 children to Zhang Jingtang and Meng Yanrong on 12 November 1927 in Zhengzhou.[4] His father was a doctor who practiced Chinese traditional medicine.[5][4] In 1944, at the age of 16, he joined the Chinese Expeditionary Force.[5][6] Three years later, he was admitted to Chaoyang university. After graduating from university, he became a judge. In 1950, he graduated from the People's University of China. During the Anti-Rightist Movement, he was divided into right, was sentenced to 15 years in a village. In 1972, he was free to act as a teacher. In July 1979, Zhang returned as a lawyer and participated in the trials of "Lin Biao Anti-Revolutionary Group Case" and "Jiang Qing Anti-Revolutionary Group Case", commonly known as the "Two Cases", serving as defense lawyers for Jiang Qing and others.[6][7] After the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, he defended liberals such as Bao Tong, Wang Juntao, Gao Yu and Pu Zhiqiang, as well as rights lawyers.[8][7]
On 24 June 2022, he died from cancer in Beijing, at the age of 94.[4][6][7]
