Maeching Li Kao

Maeching Li Kao
高李梅卿
Born
Li Maeching 李梅卿

(1920-02-20)February 20, 1920
Shanghai, China
DiedJuly 25, 2003(2003-07-25) (aged 83)
Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
OccupationSocial worker
SpouseGeorge Kao (m. 1946)
RelativesSzeming Sze (brother-in-law)

Maeching Li Kao (Chinese: 高李梅卿; pinyin: Gāo Lǐ Méiqīng; February 20, 1920 – July 25, 2003) was a Chinese-born American social worker and philanthropist, and wife of writer, editor, and translator George Kao.

Early life and education

Li Maeching was born in Shanghai, the daughter of banker Li Ming.[1][2] She attended St. Mary's Hall and St. John's University in Shanghai[3] and Wellesley College, before graduating from Barnard College in 1944.[4][5] She wrote "A Spool of Thread", "an authentic story of the effect of the Chinese War on a Shanghai university student",[6] for the Winter 1943 issue of Barnard Quarterly.[7] She also participated in fundraising events for United China Relief.[8]

Kao earned a Master of Social Work degree in 1964, from Catholic University of America.[9] Her master's thesis was titled "A Study of Eight Mothers who Were Readmitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital and Their Children who Were in Care with Child Welfare Division".[10]

Her older sister Bessie Li was a pianist before she married diplomat Szeming Sze.[2][11]

Career

During World War II and after, Li was on the staff of the China Institute,[12] assisting Chinese students who were unable to return home during wartime. In 1963, during graduate school, she worked part time at the Community Psychiatric Clinic in Bethesda, Maryland.[13] Later in life, she was an adoption specialist at the Montgomery County Department of Social Services in Maryland. In 1984, she wrote and published a cookbook on making Chinese food with a microwave oven.[9][14] Her husband's work meant that she lived in Carmel, California, Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong during her adult life, before retiring to Florida.[15]

Personal life and legacy

Maeching Li married writer, translator, and editor George Kao in 1946;[16] they had two sons, William and Jeffrey.[17] Kao became a United States citizen in 1951.

Among her personal acquaintances and social circles, Maeching was well-known for her fondness for the traditional Chinese qipao, for which she favored simple yet elegant and refined patterns.[18]

She died from leukemia in 2003, aged 83 years, in Winter Park, Florida.[9] Rollins College in Florida has a Maeching Li and George Kao Fund for Chinese Studies, assisting students and faculty to travel to China,[19] and a George and Maeching Kao Chinese Language Award.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ United States Congress (February 4, 1954). Report. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5.
  2. ^ a b "Li Ming, A Banker and Industrialist". The New York Times. 1966-10-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  3. ^ Burstein, Miriam (1943-11-22). "She Goes to Barnard: Mae-Ching Li, Future Social Worker". Barnard Bulletin. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Troth is Announced of Miss Maeching Li". The New York Times. 1945-12-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  5. ^ Barnard College, The Mortarboard Archived 2021-01-17 at the Wayback Machine (1944 yearbook): 42.
  6. ^ "'Quarterly' Out Friday". Barnard Bulletin. 77: 3. December 14, 1942.
  7. ^ Howard, Clare (January 11, 1943). "Quarterly Reviewed". Barnard Bulletin. 47: 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Two Junior Show Collections Bring Drive Grosses to $217". Barnard Bulletin. 1943-03-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-11-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c "Maeching Li Kao (obituary)". The Orlando Sentinel. 2003-08-01. pp. B6. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  10. ^ Kao, Maeching Li (1964). A Study of Eight Mothers who Were Readmitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital and Their Children who Were in Care with Child Welfare Division. Catholic University of America.
  11. ^ "Dr. Szeming Sze Dies; Helped Found World Health Organization of U.N." The Buffalo News. November 10, 1998. Retrieved 2021-11-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Maeching Li to Marry University Graduate". Columbia Missourian. 1945-12-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Two Students Now Aid Clinic". Montgomery County Sentinel. 1963-10-10. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-11-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Obituaries". The Washington Post. August 6, 2003.
  15. ^ Kao, George (1988). Cathay by the Bay: Glimpses of San Francisco's Chinatown in the Year 1950. Chinese University Press. ISBN 978-962-201-423-7.
  16. ^ "Maeching Li to Marry University Graduate". Columbia Missourian. 1945-12-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Holley, Joe (2008-03-07). "George Kao; Writer-Translator Helped Readers in China, U.S. Share Cultures". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2024-05-18. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  18. ^ [https://chicagochinesetimes.com/2022/05/01/%e3%80%90%e6%95%a3%e6%96%87%e6%86%b6%e6%95%85%e3%80%91%e6%af%8d%e8%a6%aa%e6%97%97%e8%a2%8d%e4%b8%8a%e7%9a%84%e5%be%80%e6%97%a5%e6%83%85%e6%87%b7-%e6%96%87%ef%bc%9a%e5%90%b3%e5%be%b7%e9%87%8c/ 吳德里 Wu Deli, "散文憶故-母親旗袍上的往日情懷 Reminiscence- Sentiments inspired by my Mother's Qipao", The Chicago Chinese News, May 1, 2022: "這許多年中，印象最深的幾位，如旅美的翻譯泰斗高克毅夫人李梅卿，是我們父執輩，手邊一張酒會相片中，梅卿夫人當時大約已年過半百，淺妝輕就，挽了簡便的髮束，簡單及肘的銀灰色梅花織錦旗袍，一點也不囂張的美、在熱鬧的人群裡，卻最端莊搶眼，教人看了還想再看，好像其中有說不出的詩書氣韻，極頂聰慧卻不囂張的恬然。Over the years, among those who have left the deepest impression are Mme. Maeching Li, the wife of George Kao, a renowned translator in the United States. She was from our father's generation. In a banquet photo of mine, Mme. Maeching was probably over fifty years old at the time. She wore light makeup, her hair was simply tied, and she wore a simple silver-gray plum blossom brocade qipao that reached her elbows. Her beauty was not ostentatious at all. In the lively crowd, she was the most dignified and eye-catching. People wanted to look at her again and again. It seemed that she had an indescribable literary and scholarly charm, and she was extremely intelligent but not arrogant."
  19. ^ Jankowiak, William R.; Moore, Robert L. (2016-11-28). Family Life in China. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-7456-8558-8.
  20. ^ "Asian Studies Program". Rollins College. Archived from the original on 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  21. ^ Zhang, Wenxian (December 4, 2015). "Rollins' China Connection". From the Rollins Archive. Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
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