서상돈 徐相敦

Initiator of the National Debt Repayment Movement in Daegu; merchant and Independence Club member; Catholic baptismal name Augustine

Life & career

Seo Sang-don (1850-1913) was a nationalist activist and businessman of the Joseon and Korean Empire periods, listed among Daegu Seo figures in the Korean Wikipedia entry for the clan (some reports give his seat as Dalseong, Dowi-gong branch, and some sources give his birth year as 1851, so check the genealogy). He was a prosperous merchant in Daegu, starting as a paper peddler and cloth dealer, and became a government tax inspector overseeing grain taxes. He was a Catholic with the baptismal name Augustine.

After visiting his uncle Seo In-sun, jailed at the Daegu governor's office during the Byeongin persecution, he is said to have never eaten white rice for the rest of his life even when wealthy, and to have opened his granaries each spring and autumn to the poor. He was an active member of the Independence Club and handled finance at its mass meetings.

On 29 January 1907 at the Gwangmunsa publishing company in Daegu, at a special meeting to rename it the Daedong Gwangmunhoe, he proposed that if 20 million people gave up smoking for three months and saved 20 jeon each, 13 million won of national debt could be repaid; he gave 800 won himself and 2,000 won was raised that day. He drafted the appeal with president Kim Gwang-je, and after the Daehan Maeil Sinbo reported it in February the movement spread nationwide. He later served as general manager of the North Gyeongsang branch. The Japanese suppressed the movement with the Newspaper Law and Public Order Law.

From Merchant to Benefactor

He grew rich as a paper peddler and cloth merchant, and after meeting his jailed uncle during the persecution he is said to have helped the poor for life.

The National Debt Repayment Movement

In 1907 at the Gwangmunsa in Daegu he proposed repaying 13 million won of national debt by quitting smoking, and the news spread to Seoul, the country and overseas. That February Daegu women formed the Namil-dong Jewelry Abolition Women's Association.

Grave

The location of his tomb was not confirmed here.

Descendants

Descendants are not covered here.

Other 대구 서씨 figures