Novelist and pastor who wrote the short story "Hwasubun" and was the first chair of the Korean Writers' Association
| Life | 1894 ~ 1968 |
| Era | 일제강점기~현대 |
| Clan | 담양 전씨 |
Jeon Yeong-taek (田榮澤, 1894-1968) was a novelist and pastor of the Damyang clan. Born in Pyongyang, he finished a fast-track course at Daeseong Higher Common School in 1911, studied literature and theology at Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo, and later completed a bachelor's degree at Pacific School of Religion in the United States.
He took the lead with Kim Dong-in, Ju Yo-han and others in creating the literary magazine Changjo, and left short stories such as "Hwasubun", "The Ox" and "Idiot or Genius?", the novel Cheongchungok and essay collections such as Haneureul baraboneun yeoin and Eomeoniga geuriwo. Wikipedia lists him as one of the nine representatives of the February 8 Independence Declaration. In 1935 he published the Christian magazine Saesaram.
After liberation he served as a Joseon Democratic Party official and head of the Ministry of Education's editing bureau, taught at Chungang and Methodist theological seminaries, and headed the national school for the blind and edited a Christian newspaper. After the Korean War he concentrated on ministry rather than fiction, became the first chair of the Korean Writers' Association in 1961 and received a presidential culture award in 1963. "Hwasubun" is regarded as an early modern story that portrays the lives of the poor realistically while showing Christian thought and warm humanity.
His best-known story "Hwasubun" quietly depicts the tragedy of a poor family and is noted for a narrator's voice grounded in Christian thought. Scholarship includes a study of his short stories on colonial intellectuals' modern awareness and ethics. Pastor Kim Jae-jun is said to have remembered him as generous and kind.
Besides writing he worked in education and mission as a seminary professor, principal of a school for the blind and editor of Christian periodicals. His life shows literature, faith and education joined in one person.