Personal Life
At age 34, Blofeld married Change Mei-fang, of whom he wrote, "She was half Manchu and half Chinese ... She was a woman of excellent character, intelligent and capable, but she was extremely argumentative! This goes to show that the old saying, 'Heaven punishes the guilty', is not just an empty slogan."
His first child was a son, named Ming Deh ("Bright Virtue"), born in Hong Kong the year he fled the Communist takeover of Beijing. A year later, his daughter, Shueh Chan ("Snow Beauty") was born.
He was a member of Ian Fleming's club and is a possible inspiration for the James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, whose attraction to Asian culture is noted in You Only Live Twice. John Blofeld's father was named Ernst Blofeld.
He died of cancer at age 74 in Bangkok, Thailand. His ashes occupy a place of honor in a Chinese Guan Yin temple he had helped build in 1951.
He left a son and daughter who currently reside in Spain and Guernsey. He has four granddaughters and a grandson.
Read more about this topic: John Blofeld
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