Zhou Youguang
Zhou Youguang | |||||||||||||
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周有光 | |||||||||||||
Zhou in the 1920s | |||||||||||||
| Born | Zhou Yaoping 13 January 1906 Changzhou, Jiangsu, China | ||||||||||||
| Died | 14 January 2017 (aged 111) Beijing, China | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||
| Known for | Development of pinyin; supercentenarian | ||||||||||||
| Notable work | The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts | ||||||||||||
| Political party | China Democratic National Construction Association | ||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 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, born Zhou Yaoping; 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.