An Chang-nam (19 March 1901 – 2 April 1930) was the first

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

Early life

Born and raised in

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 ...

, he is believed to have been inspired to learn to fly after having seen an

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

demonstration by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

pilot Art Smith in 1916 or 1917.

Career

In 1920, he graduated from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's Okuri Aviation School in Susaki (present-day Kōtō, Tokyo). He passed his examinations to obtain a basic pilot's permit the following year; through his flying in demonstrations in Japan, he was able to obtain a first-class pilot's licence without sitting further examinations. On his triumphant homecoming flight to visit Korea in December 1922, he landed at Seoul's

Yeouido Yeouido (Hangul: 여의도, en, Yoi Island or Yeoui Island) is a large island (or eyot) on the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main finance and investment banking district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to some 30,988 people ...

Airport. Upon his return to Japan, he worked as a flight instructor; however, after he witnessed the massacre of

Koreans in Japan comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

in the aftermath of the 1 September 1923

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, he became resolved to fight against Japanese rule over Korea, and in 1924 secretly went into exile in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. There, he joined the infantry of

Guo Songling Guo Songling () (1883 – 24 December 1925) was an important general of the Manchurian Fengtian clique warlord army led by Zhang Zuolin during the Chinese Warlord Era. A republican sympathiser who briefly served under Sun Yat-Sen, he was a ...

's army; afterwards, he lived in Beijing, becoming active in the

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...

there. At the introduction of Lyuh Woon-Hyung, he joined

Yen Hsi-shan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...

's army in 1926 and relocated to

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

, where he became principal of the Shanxi Aviation Academy. He lived there until his death on 2 April 1930, when he crashed his plane in bad weather while returning to the airport after an unplanned flight. He was posthumously awarded

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Order of Merit for National Foundation The Order of Merit for National Foundation (Hangul: 건국훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for th ...

in 2003.

References

External links

The An Chang-nam Memorial Society

Entry for An Chang-nam on Empas
1901 births 1930 deaths Aviation pioneers Korean aviators Korean expatriates in China People from Seoul Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in China Recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1930 {{Aviation-bio-stub

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links