Alexandra Petrovna Kim (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ; born Kim Aerim; February 22, 1885 – September 16, 1918) was a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n revolutionary political activist. Having joined the Bolsheviks in 1916, she is recognized as the first Korean

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

Early life

Kim Aerim was born in Sinelnikovo, a Korean village in Siberia. At the time, the area was a hotbed of Korean

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. In 1869, her father, Kim Du Suh, had emigrated to Russia, adopting the name Piotr Kim and converting to Orthodox Christianity. He worked as a translator. Later he went to

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

to work as an interpreter on the railway. In 1895, Alexandra joined him in China. Soon after her arrival in China, Kim Du Suh died. Alexandra was adopted by Jozef Stankevich, a Russian friend of her father. She attended a girls school in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. After finishing her education, she began working as a teacher in a primary school. She married Stankevich's son.13.4. The Women's Brigade
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Political activism

Kim gave up teaching and moved back to Vladivostok, where she took part in political activities for the cause of Korean migrants. Her marriage did not last long. She divorced her husband and shifted to the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

region. In the Urals she began political activism. In 1916, she joined the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. In 1917,

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

sent her back to Siberia to mobilize Koreans there against the counter-revolutionary forces and the Allied Expeditionary Forces. In

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

she was in charge of external affairs at the Far-Eastern Department of the Party. There she met with Yi Dong-Wi, Kim Rip and other Korean independence fighters. Together they founded the Korean Socialist Party in Khabarovsk on April 28, 1918.

Capture

Kim was captured, along with many other Korean communists, by

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

forces and Japanese troops on September 4, 1918. She was executed on September 16, 1918. Reportedly, her last words were "Freedom and Independence for Korea!"

Bibliography

*Pan Pyong Yul. ''The Life and Activities of Kim Alexandra Petrovna (Stankevich): A Short Biography of the First Korean Communist'' Yun Pyong Sok Kyosu Hwangapkinyom Hanguk Kundaesa Nonchong,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, 1990. *Pak Hwan. ''Kim Alexandra Petrovna (Stankevich), Leader of Korean Socialist Party'' Hanguksahan Nonchong,

, 1992. *Boris Pak, Bella Pak. Alexandra Petrovna Kim-Stankevich. Essays. Documents and materials. - Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, 2008. - 248 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89282-313-5 /Александра Петровна Ким-Станкевич. Очерки, документы и материалы. М. Институт востоковедения РАН, 2008/.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Alexandra 1885 births 1918 deaths 20th-century executions by Japan Executed Korean women Executed Russian women Korean communists Korean revolutionaries Korean women in politics Koryo-saram Old Bolsheviks People executed by Japanese occupation forces People from Primorsky Krai Russian communists Russian Marxists Russian politicians of Korean descent Russian revolutionaries Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Female revolutionaries