Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin

Afanasy Ivanovich Seredin-Sabatin (Афанасий Иванович Середин-Сабатин; 1 January 1860 – 1 January 1921) was a Russian steersman-pilot and reporter for an English newspaper, but is best known as the first European (Russian) architect to live and work in Joseon and the Korean Empire. He is also notable for being the only foreigner to witness the assassination of Queen Min by Japanese ronin in 1895.

Seredin-Sabatin resided in Korea from 1883 to 1904, and built a number of European-style palace buildings within the city of Seoul, along with the first Russian legation building. The latter is a notable historical site from the period immediately before the Japanese occupation of Korea because King Gojong and his son found asylum there for a year following Queen Min's death.

Biography

Ancestry

Seredin-Sabatin’s father, Ivan Vassilievich Seredin-Sabatin, was of noble birth, born part of the gentry in the province of Poltava, Ukraine, where his family owned an estate with serfs. They lived in the town of Lubny, in the same province, where they also owned properties.

Seredin-Sabatin’s mother (name unknown) was Ivan Vassilievich’s first wife. She was a Ukrainian commoner descended from Zaporozhian Cossacks living along the Dnieper River, Ukraine.

Once in Korea, Seredin-Sabatin learned that the Korean King Gojong was seeking a European architect to build a number of buildings on palace grounds. The king was interested in Western culture, and it apparently mattered little to him that Seredin-Sabatin did not have a degree in architecture. So Seredin-Sabatin gave up life at sea to instead live and work long-term in Korea.

Later, and while still in the Far East, Seredin-Sabatin mastered the English language and worked for a while as a reporter for an English newspaper. Seredin-Sabatin also built several summer homes in China and other countries.

A building in the north of Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) called Gwanmungak (관문각), which served as the king's study. It was a 3-story Western building that has since been destroyed. , which is one of the Historic Sites of South Korea designated on 22 November 1977.

Eyewitness to the assassination of Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong) On 8 October 1895, Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "Queen Min" ) was assassinated by Japanese agents.

The sole Russian eyewitness, Seredin-Sabatin, was working at the time as a guard inside Gyeongbokgung. killed Empress Myeongseong, and desecrated her body in the north wing of the palace. She was forty-three years old at the time of her assassination.

Reacting to the murder, the king's father Heungseon Daewongun returned to the royal palace on the same day.