Li Siguang

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.

Li Siguang
Born	26 October 1889 Huanggang, Hubei, Qing China
Died	April 29, 1971(1971-04-29) (aged 81) Beijing
Nationality	Chinese
Institutions	Peking University
Alma mater	University of Birmingham

Statue of Li Siguang in front of the Geological Museum of China

Li Siguang (Chinese: 李四光; pinyin: Lǐ Sìguāng; 1889–1971), born Li Zhongkui, courtesy name Zhongkui, is the founder of China's geomechanics. According to his daughter, he was a Mongol in China. He made outstanding contributions to changing the situation of "oil deficiency" in the country, enabling the large-scale development of oil fields to raise the country to the ranks of the world's major oil producers.

Biography

A native of Huanggang, Hubei, Li studied in Japan and the UK in his early years. He became a geological professor at Peking University upon his return from abroad in 1920. Li Siguang was Wuhan University building preparatory chairman from July 1928 to April 1938. He was the president of National Central University (Nanjing University) in 1932.

After the People's Republic of China was established, Li held the positions of vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and minister of geology.