Weng Wenhao


Weng Wenhao was a Chinese geologist and politician. He was one of the earliest modern Chinese geologists, and is regarded as the founder of modern Chinese geology and the father of modern Chinese oil industry. From May to November 1948, Weng served as President of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China.

Life

Early years

He was born in 1889 in Cixi, Zhejiang in late Qing Dynasty, and his courtesy name was Yongni. His father was a locally famous businessman.
In 1902, he earned the xiucai degree in the Imperial Examination at the age of only 13 He later studied at a French Catholic school in Shanghai.
He obtained his doctor's degree on geology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in 1912. He was the first Chinese person to hold a western doctor's degree in geology.

ROC period

After returning to China in 1912, Weng served as Minister of Mine Industry and Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, in the Beiyang Government. He was a professor of the National Research Institute of Geography. Together with Ding Wenjiang, he founded the new National Geological Survey.
He was also a professor of geology in both Beijing University and Tsinghua University. He once was the head of the Department of Geography, Tsinghua University. In July 1931, he was appointed acting president of Tsinghua University.
In 1928, he assisted Canadian paleoanthropologist Davidson Black in the establishment of the Cenozoic Research Laboratory for the research and appraisal of Peking Man fossils unearthed at Zhoukoudian.
During the period of Central Military Government of the Republic of China, he served in the central government as the General Secretary of the Executive Yuan ; the Minister of Industry, Minister of Education, and the Minister of Economy.
Invited by Chiang Kai-shek, He served as the first President of the Executive Yuan of Nationalist Government .
In March 1948, he was elected a founding member of Academia Sinica.

People's Republic of China

After the Chinese Civil War, he moved to Beijing and served in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference with his longtime associate Qian Changzhao.
During the Cultural Revolution, he was specially protected by Zhou Enlai. In 1971, he died in Beijing.

Academic achievements & activities

He had four sons, the eldest one named Weng Xinyuan, was a famous petroleum engineer who was killed in Cultural Revolution, the second oldest one named Weng Xinhan（翁心翰） was a pilot who was killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The founder of Chinese modern geophysics - Weng Wenbo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is his cousin.
Weng Xinzhi, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, is his nephew.

Major works