Alexandra Kim

Alexandra Kim

Alexandra Petrovna Kim (Russian: Александра Петровна Ким; February 22, 1885 – September 16, 1918) was a Korean revolutionary political activist. Having joined the Bolsheviks in 1916, she is recognized as the first Korean communist.

Personal life

She was born in Sinelnikovo, a Korean village in Siberia. At the time, the area was a hotbed of Korean nationalism. In 1869, her father, Kim Du Suh, had emigrated to Russia. He worked as a translator. Later he went to Manchuria to take part in fighting the Japanese forces. In 1895, Alexandra joined him in China. Soon after her arrival in China, Kim Du Suh died. Alexandra was adopted by Piotr Stankevich, a Russian friend of her father. She attended girl school in Vladivostok, Siberia. After finishing her education, she began working as a teacher in a primary school. She got married to Stankevich's son.

Political activism

She 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 region. In the Urals she began political activism. In 1916, she joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks). In 1917, Lenin sent her to Siberia to mobilize Koreans there against the counter-revolutionary forces and the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

In Khabarovsk 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 People's Socialist Party in Khabarovsk on April 28, 1918.

Capture

Alexandra was captured, along with many other Korean communists, by White 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, 1990.
• Pak Hwan. Kim Alexandra Petrovna (Stankevich), Leader of Korean Socialist Party Hanguksahan Nonchong, Seoul, 1992.
• Александра Петровна Ким-Станкевич. Очерки, документы и материалы. М. Институт востоковедения РАН, 2008.