Yu Dafu 1896-1945

A key literary figure of the May Fourth period, was born in Fuyang, Zhejiang province. He received his secondary and university education in Japan, and could read English, Japanese, and German fluently. After returning to China in 1922, Yu, as one of the founding members of the Creation Society 創造社, spent most of his energies up to 1927 writing for and editing the society’s magazines, apart from brief spells of university teaching. When the Sino-Japanese war broke out in 1937, he switched to anti-Japanese propaganda work, and later left for Singapore to continue his fight, eventually fleeing to Sumatra in 1942 and living under an assumed name. There, shortly after the Japanese surrender, he was allegedly murdered by the Japanese military police.

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