Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung (also known as Chairman Mao) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China. His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. A controversial figure, Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history, and is also known as a theorist, military strategist, poet and visionary.