Zhang Zhen (general)


Zhang Zhen was a general of the People's Liberation Army of China and a member of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.

Biography

Zhang was born in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, with Hakka ancestry from Pingyuan County, Guangdong Province. His original name was Zhang Jiansheng, also named as Zhang Zushou, Zhang Zhongtian. He joined the Communist Youth League in April 1930, and the Communist Party of China that summer.
From 1957–66, Zhang was vice president, and later president of PLA Nanjing Military Academy. Purged during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated in 1975 and appointed vice director, and later director of the PLA General Logistics Department, and a member of the CCP Central Military Commission. From 1980–85, he was the vice chief of staff in PLA General Staff Department. From 1985–90, he served as the president of National Defense University.
In 1990, Zhang became president, political commissar and CCP chief of the PLA National Defense University. He was an alternate member of the 11th CCP central committee, and a full member of the 12th CCP central committee. He celebrated his 100th birthday in October 2014 and died on September 3, 2015, just over a month before his 101st birthday.

Children