Cho Ki-chon
| Cho Ki-chon | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
6 November 1913 Ael'tugeu, Vladivostok District, Russia |
| Died | 31 July 1951 (aged 37) Pyongyang |
| Resting place | Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery |
| Nickname | "Korea's Mayakovsky" "Pushkin of Korea" |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Korean |
| Nationality | Korean |
| Alma mater | Gorky Omsk State Pedagogical University |
| Genres | Epic poetry, lyric poetry |
| Subject | Cult of personality of Kim Il-sung |
| Literary movement | Socialist realism |
| Notable works |
Mt. Paeketu, "Whistle" |
| Notable awards |
Festival Prize Order of the National Flag, 2nd class (1951) National Prize, 1st class for Mt. Paektu (1948) and Korea is Fighting (1952) |
| Spouse | Kim Hae-sŏn (late 1930s) |
| Children | Yurii Cho (son) |
| Korean name | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 조기천 |
| Hancha | 趙基天 |
| Revised Romanization | Jo Gi-cheon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Cho Ki-ch'ŏn |
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Cho Ki-chon (Korean: 조기천; 6 November 1913 – 31 July 1951) was a Russian-born North Korean poet. He is regarded as "a founding father of North Korean poetry" whose distinct Soviet-influenced style of lyrical epic poetry in the socialist realist genre became an important feature of North Korean literature. He was nicknamed "Korea's Mayakovsky" after the writer whose works had had an influence on him and which implied his breaking from the literature of the old society and his commitment to communist values. After a remark made by Kim Jong-il on his 2001 visit to Russia, North Korean media has referred to Cho as the "Pushkin of Korea".
Cho was dispatched by the Soviet authorities to liberated Korea when the Red Army entered in 1945. By that time, he had much experience of Soviet literature and literature administration. The Soviets hoped that Cho would shape the cultural institutions of the new state based on the Soviet model. For the Soviets, the move was successful and Cho did not only that but also significantly developed socialist realism as it would become the driving force of North Korean literature and arts.
Cho offered some of the earliest contributions to Kim Il-sung's cult of personality. His most famous work is Mt. Paektu (1947), a lyrical epic praising Kim Il-sung's guerrilla activities and promoting him as a suitable leader for the new North Korean state. Other notable works by Cho include "Whistle", a seemingly non-political love poem which was later adapted as a popular song that is known in both North and South Korea.
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Wikipedia