32 Facts About Ahn Changho

Ahn Changho is commonly referred to by his pen name Dosan.

Ahn Changho established the Young Korean Academy in San Francisco in 1913 and was a key founding member of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in 1919.

Ahn Changho is one of two men believed to have written the lyrics of South Korean national anthem, Aegukga.

Ahn Changho was born Ahn Changho Chi-sam on 9 November 1878 in Kangso County, Pyeongan province, Joseon.

Ahn Changho was the third son of father An Hung-kuk and mother Hwang Mong-un.

Ahn Changho was born into an impoverished farming family during the unstable last few decades of the Joseon dynasty.

Ahn Changho began studying at a seodang around age 8 in preparation for the gwageo, the demanding civil service examinations that determined placement in government intellectual jobs.

In 1895,16-year-old Ahn Changho was disturbed by the destruction of the First Sino-Japanese War, and became determined to improve Korea.

Ahn Changho studied there for three years, converting to Christianity and working for Dr Oliver R Avison at Chejungwon, the first medical institution in Korea.

Ahn Changho became engaged to his future wife Helen Ahn around this time.

Ahn Changho then returned to his home province of Pyeongan, and around 1899 established the Chomjin school, the first coeducational school founded by a Korean, and the T'anp'ori Church.

Ahn Changho then decided to further his education by going to the US.

Ahn Changho married Helen on 3 September 1902, and shortly afterwards departed for the US.

Ahn Changho sought work from Koreans who had already settled there.

In 1926 departing from San Pedro, California, by ship, Ahn Changho traveled back to China, never returning to the United States to live for long.

Ahn Changho was first arrested in 1909 in connection with Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi, the Japanese Resident General of Korea.

Ahn Changho was tortured and punished many times during the years of his activism.

Ahn Changho was a naturalized Chinese citizen at this time and illegally extradited back to Korea, where he was convicted of violating Japan's "Preservation of Peace Laws" and sentenced to five years in Taejon prison.

Ahn Changho included economic and military components in his independence movement strategies.

In 2012, Ahn Changho was posthumously inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr.

On November 8,2013, Ahn Changho was given an Honorary Diploma by his alma mater, Yonsei University, in recognition of his service as teaching assistant at Gusae Hakdang and for his work at Jejungwon and Severance Hospital.

Ahn Changho was a good influence on many Yonsei and Severance Medical School alumni.

Ahn Changho married Helen Ahn Changho on 3 September 1902, shortly before their immigration to the US, and they remained married until his death in 1937.

Ahn Changho was a housewife and raised the couple's children on her own for many years.

Ahn Changho actively supported the independence movement through local fundraising and community organizing.

Ahn Changho was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 2008 by the South Korean government and is buried in Dosan Park, along with her husband.

Susan Ahn Changho Cuddy was a US Navy Lieutenant who worked for the Office of Naval Intelligence, the National Security Agency, the Library of Congress, and the US Department of Defense.

Ahn Changho was the first woman to serve as a gunnery officer in the US Navy.

Soorah Ahn Changho Buffum was a restauranteur and 1948 graduate of USC.

Philson Ahn Changho, the youngest child, was an engineer and aerospace executive.

Ahn Changho acted in minor roles in several films and attained his Bachelor in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ahn Changho visited Korea for the first time in 1992 at age 79.