Juliana Koo, Chinese-born American diplomat, Died at 111

Juliana C. Young Koo (née Yen) was September 26, 1905, and died on May 24, 2017.

She was a Chinese American diplomat.

She served as first head of the UN Protocol Department.

Koo was a supercentenarian and after emigrating to the US, she became the third wife of diplomat and politician Wellington Koo.

Koo was born to a wealthy family with business and government ties in Tianjin, China as Yen Yu-yün.

Koo released her autobiography titled 109 Springtimes: My Story in 2015.

Koo married Yang Guangsheng (or Clarence Kuangson Young; Chinese: 楊光泩; pinyin: Yáng Guāngshēng; Wade–Giles: Yung Kuang-sheng ) on 6 September 1929.

Koo’s first husband, a Chinese diplomat, was posted to Manila at the beginning of World War II and was arrested and eventually executed by the Japanese on 17 April 1942.

Herself and her three daughters survived.

Following her first husband Yang ( who was the consul general stationed in Manila, Philippines, from 1938 to 1942) was killed by the Japanese army she took care of more than 26 widows and children of the consulate staff.

When the war was over, Koo took her three daughters to the U.S. on her own and became the first head of the U.N. Protocol Department.

Koo spent 10 years working at the United Nations in New York.

Koo was the United Nations first female diplomat.

Juliana Koo passed away at 111 years old.