Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976) commonly referred to as Chairman Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history. He was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, a theorist, military strategist, poet, and visionary who was responsible for driving imperialism out of China, modernizing China and building it into a world power,