Accomplished Chinese Americans:

Anna C. Chennault 

Date of Birth:		June 23, 1925 
Place of Birth:		Beijing, China 
Came to U.S.:		1948 
Education:		1943 graduate at the Lingnan University, Guilin, Guangxi, China 
U.S. Citizenship:	1950 

	Anna Chennault, an American political lobbyist, the wife of the American Aviator Clare Lee Chennault, the legendary commander of the Flying Tigers in China during World War II(1939-45).  She was a prominent member of China lobby in the United States during the cold war.  

	Anna Chennault grew up in Beijing, and after 1935, in Hong Kong.   During World War II, she attended Lingnan University at its refugee campus in Guilin, Guangxi, China.  After her graduation in 1943, she worked for the Chinese Central News Agency as a correspondent in Kunming, and after the war, in Shanghai.   In Kunming that she met General Chennault.    They were married in 1947 in Shanghai, where he headed an airline, the Civil Air Transport(CAT), for which she did public-relation work.  

	Anna first came to the United States in 1948, and became a naturalized citizen in 1950.   Until her husband's death in 1958, however, she and her family spent most of their time in Taipei, Taiwan, China.   As a widow, Anna Chennault resettled in Washington D.C., where she established her self as a lobbyist.   She also became active in Republican Party politics and emerged during the Nixon eraas one of the capital city's leading hostesses. 

	Starting 1962, Anna Chennault has given speeches around the country.  She speaks about her life experiences and issues regarding China.   In 1963, President Kennedy appointed her as a Director of Chinese Refugee Center.  It makes her the first Chinese American to be appointed by the White House.  In 1970, she became the Vice President of Flying Tigers Airline, and in 1972, she was listed among the 70 most powerful people.   She was twice the Minority Chairman of the Republican Party, and Deputy Director White House Import Committee for 8 years.  Anna acted as an advisor to every President since J. F. Kennedy on issues between China and U.S.   In 1981, Annareturned to Beijing, her birthplace, for the first time since the late 1940's.  She received a well publicized reception with China's then leader, Deng Xiaoping, Thereafter, she served as an intermediary between the mainland China and U.S.A., also mainland and Taiwan, China. 

	Anna Chennault wrote more than 40 books in English and Chinese.  Her   English-language writings include two autobiographical books: A Thousand Springs(1962) and the Education of Anna(1980).  A Thousand Springs became an instant best seller, reprinted 22 times within the first year.  Later the book was translated to different languages in cluding Chinese, Korean and Japanese.  Her Chinese language books, published under her Chinese name, included collections of essays written over the years for various newspapaers in Taiwan, China.