Background
Koo was born on January 29, 1888 in Shanghai, China.
Koo was born on January 29, 1888 in Shanghai, China.
Koo attended Saint John's University, Shanghai, and Columbia College, where he was a member of the Philolexian Society, a literary and debating club, and graduated in 1908. In 1912 he received his Ph. D. in international law and diplomacy from Columbia University.
After studying in the United States, Koo returned to China where he held a variety of posts in the Chinese diplomatic service and government. In the 1930's and 1940's he was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's minister of foreign affairs and then ambassador to, successively, France, Great Britain, and the United States. He avoided partisanship in Chinese politics in order to serve his country in world affairs. He was nominated to the International Court of Justice at the Hague in 1956, and continued in that post until 1967. Koo died in New York City on November 14, 1985.
Member of the Philolexian Society
In 1908, Koo married his first wife, Chang Jun-e. They divorced prior to 1912. Koo's second wife, Tang Pao-yueh "May" was the youngest daughter of the former Chinese prime minister Tang Shaoyi. Their marriage took place soon after Koo's return to China in 1912. She died in an influenza epidemic in 1918. They had two children: a son, Teh-chang Koo (1916-1998), and a daughter, Patricia Koo (b. 1918). Koo's third wife was Oei Hui-lan. She married Koo in Brussels, Belgium in 1921. On 3 September 1959, Koo married his fourth wife Yen Yu-yun. He had three stepdaughters from this marriage: Genevieve, Shirley and Frances Loretta Young.
