Li Man-kuei

Li Man-kuei (, 13 June 1907 – 20 October 1975) was a Chinese educator, dramatist and politician. She was among the first group of women elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1948 and has been described as the 'mother of modern Chinese drama'.

Biography Born in 1907, Li was originally from Taishan in Guangdong province. After attending Zhenguang Middle School between 1921 and 1926, she majored in Chinese at Yenching University, graduating in 1930. She returned to Guangdong and taught Chinese at Pooi To Middle School until 1933, when she returned to Yenching University for graduate studies in Chinese and English. She was then employed by Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. compiling the Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. she was a delegate to the that drew up the constitution of the Republic of China. She was subsequently a candidate in Guangdong Province in the 1948 elections to the Legislative Yuan, in which she was elected to parliament. She relocated to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War, where she was credited with reviving local theatre. The Little Theatre Movement introduced Western styles and modern performing arts to Taiwanese drama. She became dean of the drama departments at Chinese Culture University and Fu Hsing Kang College, and served as a juror of the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. She died in 1975.