On August 20, 2023, Isabel Crook, a dedicated international communist, who pioneered English education in China, passed away at the age of 108 in Beijing.

　　Crook, born to a Canadian family in Chengdu, Sichuan province in southwest China, devoted most of her life to China, showing her deep connection with the Chinese. She said in an interview, "I have not only never regretted [it] but feel that it is a great privilege to be at the center of one of the most vibrant and active countries in the world."

　　At the age of 23, she graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada and started field research in rural Sichuan. She became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain after meeting her future husband, David Crook, in the early 1940s.

　　As an anthropologist and sociologist, she wrote several books, including Revolution in a Chinese Village: Ten Mile Inn and Xinglong Chang： Field Notes of a Village Called Prosperity 1940-1942, in which she recorded China's development seen through her own eyes and presented China to the outside world, making an outstanding contribution to international cooperation.

　　Crook played a major role in shaping foreign language education in China. She helped to compile the country's first university English textbook and initiated groundbreaking endeavors to promote foreign language education.

　　According to a statement by the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), where she taught, Crook, having lived and worked in China for over nine decades, dedicated her passion and wisdom to BFSU and China's English education. She witnessed the growth and progress of foreign language education in China, cultivating language talents and contributing to educational initiatives and friendly exchanges between China and the rest of the world. She was a recipient of the Friendship Medal, China's highest honor for foreigners who have made outstanding contributions to promoting international exchange and cooperation.