Zhou Youguang
Zhou Youguang | |||||||||||||
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周有光 | |||||||||||||
Zhou in the 1920s | |||||||||||||
| Born | 13 January 1906 Changzhou, Jiangsu, Qing dynasty | ||||||||||||
| Died | 14 January 2017 (aged 111) Beijing, China | ||||||||||||
| Known for | Development of pinyin; supercentenarian | ||||||||||||
| Political party | China Democratic National Construction Association | ||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Academic background | |||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||
| Academic work | |||||||||||||
| Notable works | The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 周有光 | ||||||||||||
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| Birth name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 周耀平 | ||||||||||||
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Zhou Youguang (Chinese: 周有光; pinyin: Zhōu Yǒuguāng; 13 January 1906 – 14 January 2017), also known as Chou Yu-kuang or Chou Yao-ping, was a Chinese economist, linguist, sinologist, and supercentenarian. He has been credited as the father of pinyin, the most popular romanization system for Chinese, which was adopted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1958, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1982, and the United Nations in 1986.