On 14 March, the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital of Fudan University announced via its official WeChat account the passing of Professor Zhu Guanzhen. Professor Zhu, former President of the hospital and former Director of its Academic Committee, died at 18:13 on 12 March 2026 after medical treatment proved unsuccessful. She was 96.

Zhu Guanzhen was born in Shanghai in 1929. Inspired by watching her elder brother practice medicine, she resolved from a young age to become a doctor herself. From the moment she entered the Red House Hospital in 1955, she dedicated her entire career to the principle of rigorous precision. No matter how late a surgery finished, she would personally conduct ward rounds. During these rounds, she questioned junior staff meticulously, ensuring they understood every detail of a patient’s care. She once reprimanded a team for a stain on a patient’s surgical dressing, believing that such small matters reflected the core of medical ethics. What she imparted to younger doctors was not only technical skill, but also a compassionate professional creed: “A good doctor should use one percent of hope to secure one hundred percent of wellbeing for the patient.”

In 1967 and again in 1977, Zhu Guanzhen travelled to Africa as part of a medical mission. In Somalia, under searing 60°C heat, she employed a specialised Chinese suturing technique to save a young mother’s uterus. In Togo, she single-handedly managed all obstetric and gynaecological services at a district hospital. Beyond providing treatment, she trained local doctors, leaving a legacy of dedication from Chinese medical professionals on the continent.

During her tenure as President of the Red House Hospital, she upheld stringent medical standards, protecting the institution’s reputation for excellence. Her students remember her as a demanding mentor. In an era before computers, she once revised a student’s thesis eleven times, insisting on a full rewrite and weighing every word, sentence, and punctuation mark. She was not inflexible, however, teaching them that “clinical guidelines are not dogma—we must achieve the best outcome for the patient with the least possible trauma.”

Professor Zhu Guanzhen devoted her life to obstetrics and gynaecology. Her career stands as a lifelong commitment to her original calling and the deepest embodiment of medical compassion.

*This article is synthesised from Shangguan News and The Paper.*