ThoughtGallery.org > Never Defeated | Two Women’s Epic Stories of Struggle and Success in Communist China

Never Defeated | Two Women’s Epic Stories of Struggle and Success in Communist China

Lan YAN and Yan MEI are two of the most influential businesswomen in China—the former heads Lazard’s operations in Greater China, and the latter oversees Brunswick Group’s advisory work in China. Both hailing from prominent families, they have experienced firsthand the turmoil of Communist China’s history at the political center.

YAN, the daughter of Chairman Mao’s Russian translator and granddaughter of a wartime Communist spy, grew up in the company of the likes of Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. When the Cultural Revolution swept the country, her father and grandfather were imprisoned, and her mother was forced out of Beijing, leaving a 10-year-old Yan to survive on her own.

MEI, the daughter of China’s one-time propaganda tsar, who was also imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution, grew up surrounded by leaders and their children as well. She shares a similar story of struggle and success with Yan, whose new memoir, House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History, describes her family’s hardship in riveting detail.

The two business titans will share their stories and secrets with Dorinda Elliott, China Institute director of programs, who covered China for Newsweek during the late 1980s.











When: Wed., Jan. 29, 2020 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: China Institute
100 Washington St.
212-744-8181
Price: $5-$20
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Lan YAN and Yan MEI are two of the most influential businesswomen in China—the former heads Lazard’s operations in Greater China, and the latter oversees Brunswick Group’s advisory work in China. Both hailing from prominent families, they have experienced firsthand the turmoil of Communist China’s history at the political center.

YAN, the daughter of Chairman Mao’s Russian translator and granddaughter of a wartime Communist spy, grew up in the company of the likes of Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. When the Cultural Revolution swept the country, her father and grandfather were imprisoned, and her mother was forced out of Beijing, leaving a 10-year-old Yan to survive on her own.

MEI, the daughter of China’s one-time propaganda tsar, who was also imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution, grew up surrounded by leaders and their children as well. She shares a similar story of struggle and success with Yan, whose new memoir, House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History, describes her family’s hardship in riveting detail.

The two business titans will share their stories and secrets with Dorinda Elliott, China Institute director of programs, who covered China for Newsweek during the late 1980s.

Buy tickets/get more info now