Kye Ung-sang
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Kye Ung Sang(계응상,桂應祥, 1893 - 1967) was a North Korean geneticist and expert on silkworms.


Biography

Kye was born in 1893 to a poor peasant family in
Chongju Chŏngju (; also Jŏngju) is a ''si'', or city, in southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a ''kun'' or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Chŏ ...
. He studied with the help of his study mates while private tutoring in Seoul and Japan. After graduating from University overseas, he published five theses about the anatomy and physiology and silkworm genetics. In 1930, he published eight theses in Gwangzhou China, where he was a professor of agriculture in a local university. He traveled to
Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...
,
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
,
Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, and attempted to do scientific research at the Chaeryong research centre of
sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
, but could not proceed further, as he was limited by Japanese colonial authorities. After liberation, he became a professor at
Kim Il-sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...
in 1946.He criticized the genetic theories of
Trofim Lysenko Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (russian: Трофим Денисович Лысенко, uk, Трохи́м Дени́сович Лисе́нко, ; 20 November 1976) was a Soviet agronomist and Pseudoscience, pseudo-scientist.''An ill-educated agro ...
(which rejected
Mendelian Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biology, biological Heredity, inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, an ...
genetics and proclaimed a "genetics mixed with genes and environmental factors", that acknowledged inheritance of acquired characteristics), that was increasingly becoming mainstream in North Korea due to Soviet influences. In 1949, North Korea attempted abolishing classical genetics in favor of Lysenkoism and fired Kye; however he refused to accept Lysenkoism and furthered his research in North Korea based in classical genetics. He developed several variants of silkworms known as "Gaduknue 54" and "Gaduknue 64" that were appropriate to the North Korean climate. He had been elected as member of the
Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...
. He unexpectedly died in 1967 due to a car accident.


Legacy and awards

He was awarded the Hero of Labor and
People's Prize The People's Prize ( ko, 인민상) is a North Korean arts and sciences award. It is awarded by the People's Prize Awarding Commission, which is working directly under the Cabinet of North Korea. The prize can be granted to works of art or people. ...
in 1963.He is buried in the
Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery The Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery is a national cemetery in North Korea located in Sinmi-ri, Hyongjesan-guyok, Pyongyang. Founded on September 17, 1986, it is officially reserved for people who contributed to the "liberation of the country" and "so ...
.


See also

*
Kye Ung-sang University Kye Ung-sang University ()also known as Kye Ung-sang Sariwon University of Agriculture () is a university in Sariwon, North Korea. History The university was initially founded as the Sariwon University of Agriculture on September 1, 1959. The uni ...


References

North Korean scientists 1893 births 1967 deaths People from Chongju Ung-sang Road incident deaths in North Korea Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Textile scientists Academic staff of Kim Il-sung University {{Improve categories, date=February 2023