Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin
Afanasii Ivanovich Seridin-Sabatin | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1, 1860 Lubny Poltava, Russian Empire |
| Died | January 1, 1921 (aged 61) |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Russian Legation |
Afanasy Ivanovich Seredin-Sabatin (Афанасий Иванович Середин-Сабатин) was a Russian steersman-pilot and reporter for an English newspaper, but is best known as the first European (Russian) architect to live and work in Joseon and the Korean Empire from approximately 1890 to 1904. He built a number of palace buildings in European style within the city of Seoul. He also built the first Russian legation building in Seoul. This building is a historical site because shortly before the Japanese occupation of Korea, when the Korean Queen Min was assassinated by the Japanese in 1895, King Gojong and his son were given refuge in the Russian legation building for a year.
Biography
Ancestry
Seredin-Sabatin’s father, Ivan Vassilievich Seredin-Sabatin, was of noble birth, born part of the gentry in the province of Poltava, Ukraine, where his family owned an estate with serfs. They lived in the town of Lubny, in the same province, where they also owned properties.[1]
Seredin-Sabatin’s mother (name unknown) was Ivan Vassilisvich’s first wife. His mother was a Ukrainian commoner, descended from Zaporozhian Cossacks living along the Dnieper River, Ukraine.[1]
Life
Afanasy Ivanovich Seredin-Sabatin was born in Lubny, Poltava, Ukraine, in 1860. While he was still very young his father remarried. His stepmother was cruel towards him, so at the age of 14 he went to live with his uncle in Petrograd.[1]
Seredin-Sabatin attended the Petrograd Academy of Arts for a year. He also attended an architectural university (it is unknown which one). However, soon before graduating, he purportedly had a falling out with a professor and left the university. With no certificate of graduation, he was unable to find work as an architect. Later he entered a Sea Cadet Corps school. Upon graduation, he became steersman-pilot of a Russian vessel in the Far East. It was there that he met his future wife.[1]
His wife, Lydia Christianovna Shalich, was of Polish-German origin and was born in Galicia, Russian Empire. She had a very good contralto voice, often singing in concerts, and was also a good swimmer and hiker. Lydia educated their four children. She died in 1936, at the age of 69, in Shanghai, China.[1]
Seredin-Sabatin spent some time at sea in the Far East until his arrival in Korea in 1883, where he was hired by Paul Georg von Möllendorff to manage geodesic and construction work. Once in Korea, Seredin-Sabatin learned that the Korean king was seeking a European architect to build a number of buildings on palace grounds. The king was interested in Western culture, and it apparently mattered little to the king that Seredin-Sabatin did not have a degree in architecture. So at the age of 24, Seredin-Sabatin gave up life at sea to instead live and work in Korea, where he built many buildings of note, several of which are still standing. He also left a historical legacy in other ways, namely through serving as an eyewitness to the assassination of Queen Min by the Japanese.[1]
Later, and while still in the Far East, Seredin-Sabatin mastered the English language and worked for a while as a reporter for an English newspaper. Seredin-Sabatin also built several summer homes in China and other countries.[1]
Soon after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) he suffered from some type of nervous disorder and left his family consisting of his wife, four daughters, and one son. Seredin-Sabatin went at first to Vladivostok, Siberia, then to European Russia, where he died in 1921. The place of his death is uncertain. It was either at Rostov-on-the-Don, or Volgograd (former Tsaritsin) on the Volga.[1]
Seredin-Sabatin was fond of hunting with a 10 caliber double-barreled shotgun. He was an excellent swimmer (having saved several people from drowning), an accomplished tennis player, and an indefatigable hiker. He was irresponsible, and despite his many talents, his family very often found themselves in dire financial straits.
Achievements in Korea
According to a curator at the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) of South Korea, only two buildings in Korea can be confirmed as achievements of Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin.[2]
- A building in the north of Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁) called Gwanmungak (관문각). It was a 3-story Western building that has since been destroyed.
- Former Russian legation building, which is one of the Historic Sites of South Korea designated on 22, November 1977.
Eyewitness to the assassination of Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong)
On 8 October 1895, Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "Queen Min"[3]) was assassinated by Japanese agents.[4] It was the Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Gorō, who orchestrated the plot against her. In 2001, Russian reports on the assassin were found in the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. The documents included the testimony of King Gojong, several witnesses of the assassination, and Karl Ivanovich Weber's report to Prince Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Foreign Minister of Russia. Weber was the chargé d'affaires at the Russian legation in Seoul at that time.[4] According to the Russian eyewitness (Seredin-Sabatin, at that time an employee of the Korean king), a group of Japanese agents and members of the Hullyŏndae army entered the royal palace,[5] killed Empress Myeongseong, and desecrated her body in the north wing of the palace.[6] She was forty-three years old at the time of her assassination.[7]
Reacting to the murder, the king's father Heungseon Daewongun returned to the royal palace on the same day.[4] On 11 February 1896, King Gojong and his crown prince moved from the Gyeongbokgung to the Russian legation in Seoul, from which they governed for about one year, an event known as Agwan Pacheon incident.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Татьяна Симбирцева (2009-12-22). "Сеульский строитель". газета «Курган и курганцы», №143/2009. Archived from the original on 2015-09-09.
- ^ Song, Seung-hyun (2020-10-20). "What did the Russian architect see? - Show marking 30th anniversary of Korea-Russia diplomatic ties highlights Seredin-Sabatin's eyewitness account of Empress Myeongseong's assassination". The Korea Herald. South Korea. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
- ^ Characteristics of Queen of Corea The New York Times Nov 10, 1895
- ^ a b c Park Jong-hyo (박종효), former professor at Lomonosov Moscow State University (2002-01-01). 일본인 폭도가 가슴을 세 번 짓밟고 일본도로 난자했다. Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). No. 508. pp. 472 ~ 485.
- ^ See Russian eyewitness account of surrounding circumstances at "Queen Min". Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2013-03-24. by Gari Ledyard, Sejong Professor of Korean History Emeritus at Columbia University
- ^ Simbirtseva, Tatiana (1996-05-08). "Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power". Archived from the original on 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
- ^ "Queen Min". Archived from the original on 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2013-03-24.