Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography

Edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn

Hong Kong’s history is rich in colourful characters and fascinating life stories. This illustrated dictionary collects in one volume a lively cross-section of the personalities who have made the city the cosmopolitan place it is today. The cast of characters includes men and women from different parts of the world, diverse cultural traditions and all walks of life. The great and the good are here: governors, admirals, film stars, taipans, writers, revolutionaries and other famous names. But there are surprises too: long-forgotten movers and shakers of their day; ordinary folk who illustrate some aspect of Hong Kong history; gangsters and scoundrels – even a few eminent failures. In short, the Dictionary is a kaleidoscope through which Hong Kong’s many faces are revealed.

This collection of more than 500 specially commissioned entries is the first dictionary of lives spanning the whole of Hong Kong history. Ninety contributors, including prominent academics, journalists and other experts, have crafted entries.

May Holdsworth’s books include Foreign Devils: Expatriates in Hong Kong, and The Palace of Established Happiness: Restoring a Garden in the Forbidden City. Christopher Munn is the author of Anglo-China: Chinese People and British Rule in Hong Kong, 1841- 1880.

“Hong Kong has always had its full measure of remarkable people. Both saints and sinners, they have come from all the ethnic groups in Hong Kong’s ebullient population. What has been missing is an accessible record of who these people are and what they did. Their stories will now come to life again in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography and, let us hope, be joined by new entries in the years to come.”

— David Wilson (Lord Wilson of Tillyorn), Governor of Hong Kong, 1987-92

“A painstakingly researched and engagingly written collection of vignettes of the characters, good and bad, who made Hong Kong. It has tremendous scope and gripping detail, making it a very timely scholarly resource as well as a delightful treasure trove of the city’s past.” — Frank Dikötter, author of Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962