Lin Qiaozhi (1901-1983) was born in a Christian family on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, Fujian province. She was an obstetrician and gynecologist famous throughout China.

Lin's father was a graduate of a university in Singapore and worked in teaching and translation. He was open-minded and believed that women should be educated as well.

In 1929, Lin graduated from Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) with a doctorate degree. She was the first native female physician hired by the department of obstetrics and gynecology, PUMC Hospital.

Lin took advanced training in London and Manchester in 1932. She went to Vienna  the next year as a visiting scholar. In 1939, Lin went to Chicago University Medical School to continue her research.

In 1940, Lin returned to PUMC Hospital and became the first native female director of the hospital's department of obstetrics and gynecology.

The hospital was closed when the Pacific War broke out in 1941. After that, Lin rented a house at a hutong in Beijing and opened a private clinic. Meanwhile, she was hired to teach at Peking University.

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, PUMC Hospital reopened and Lin returned there.

In 1959, Lin was chosen as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the only female academician at that time.

She was selected as a deputy to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th National People's Congress. She was also a member of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation.

In 1965, she chaired the first academic conference of obstetrics and gynecology of the Chinese Medical Association. In 1974, she attended the conference of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research in Geneva.

She suffered from cerebral thrombosis during her visit to four European countries in December 1978. Despite her illness, Lin cooperated with her students and finished the book, Gynecologic Oncology, in August 1980.

Lin revolutionized modern Chinese gynecology and oncology. As an obstetrician, she delivered over 50,000 babies in her career, but she never married or had children of her own.

On April 22, 1983, Lin died at the age of 82. After her death, a memorial hall was set up in her hometown, Gulangyu Island in Xiamen.