Sidney Rittenberg: Use Your Head and Follow Your Heart
Sidney Rittenberg is an American journalist, Chinese-English interpreter, and scholar who lived in China from 1944 to 1979. He worked closely with People’s Republic of China (PRC) founder Mao Zedong, military leader Zhu De, statesman Zhou Enlai, and other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the war, and was with these central Communist leaders at Yan’an. He was the first American citizen to join the CCP until he withdrew from the party during the Cultural Revolution.
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ABOUT Sidney Rittenberg
“In China, Sidney found Yulin, his dream girl and lifetime partner; she has been for 56 years the source of his happiness and the strength behind his achievements.
Sixteen of Sidney’s thirty-five years in China were spent as a prisoner in solitary confinement on charges of being an American spy. He was freed in 1977 and eulogised by the post-Cultural Revolution Chinese Government as a true friend of China.
His family became a myth and a legend, giving them easy entrée to China’s leaders, a great advantage for their consulting work. As consultants, Sidney and Yulin have helped clients like Intel, InFocus, Nextel, Levi Strauss, Hughes Aircraft, ARCO, Microsoft, and Teledesic, as well as CBS’ Dan Rather and Sidney’s close friends, Mike Wallace and the Reverend Billy Graham.
Sidney has been Distinguished Professor of Chinese History at the University of North Carolina, where an endowed Chair has been announced in his honour, and is currently Visiting Professor of China Studies at Pacific Lutheran University. Sidney’s 35 years in China are chronicled in ‘The Man Who Stayed Behind’ co-authored with then senior Wall Street Journal writer, Amanda Bennett.”
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