함대훈 咸大勳
Novelist, translator and theater figure, a founder of the Dramatic Arts Research Society and head of the National Police College; pen name Ilbo; named on a pro-Japanese collaborator list
| Life | 1907 ~ 1949 |
| Era | 일제강점기~대한민국 |
| Clan | 강릉 함씨 |
Life & career
Ham Dae-hun (咸大勳, 1907-1949) was a novelist, translator and theater figure with the pen name Ilbo. He is presented as Gangneung Ham on the basis of Wikipedia's categories; the text does not state his seat, so clan confirmation is needed. He was born on 21 August 1907 in Songhwa County, Hwanghae, finished Jungang Higher Common School and studied Russian literature at the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages, leaving without a degree.
Around 1928 he helped organize the Haeoe Munhak Yeonguhoe and began publishing translations and criticism in Haeoe Munhak and Munye Wolgan. In 1931 he joined Kim Jin-seop, Yi Ha-yun, Jeong In-seop and others in founding the Dramatic Arts Research Society, translating Gogol's The Government Inspector for its first production, and in 1933 he took part in the 'form debate' between Im Hwa and Baek Cheol. His fiction was largely popular romance, and his best-known novel, Sunjeong haehyeop, was made into a film of the same name.
In the late colonial period he founded and headed the National Theater Research Institute with Jeong In-seop and Yu Chi-jin and was active in the Korean Writers' Association. Wikipedia records 11 pro-Japanese writings, notably Us and the Volunteer Soldiers in the Maeil Sinbo in 1940, and says he appears on the 2002 list of 42 pro-Japanese literary figures, the 2008 list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators and the 705-person list published by the government commission in 2009. Right after liberation he was editor-in-chief of the Hanseong Ilbo, then joined the police, serving as head of the public-security and information bureaus of the military government and as president of the National Police College, where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 21 March 1949, aged 41. He is a figure whose literary, translation and theater work should be remembered together with his wartime collaboration.
Literary and Theater Work
He joined the founding of the Dramatic Arts Research Society in 1931 and translated Gogol's Government Inspector. In the 1933 'form debate' between Im Hwa and Baek Cheol he set out his view of the nature of proletarian literature. His best-known novel Sunjeong haehyeop was filmed.
Collaboration Controversy
Wikipedia describes his late-colonial activities, including heading the National Theater Research Institute and joining the Korean Writers' Association, notes 11 pro-Japanese writings, and says he appears on several lists. For this reason this page carries the pro-Japanese label. For details of the assessment, consult primary sources such as the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities.
Grave
His grave was not confirmed.
Descendants
No information on descendants was confirmed.