Ahn Chang-ho

Ahn Chang Ho (; November 9, 1878 – March 10, 1938), sometimes An Chang-ho, was a prominent Korean politician, Korean independence activist, and an early leader of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He is also commonly referred to by his art name Dosan (도산; 島山 ). He and his wife were the first Koreans to legally immigrate to the US as a married couple. Ahn was a Protestant social activist who in 1907 established the later prominent Korean independence organization Shinminhoe when he returned to Korea from the US. He also established the Young Korean Academy in San Francisco in 1913, and was a key founding member of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in 1919. He is also one of two men believed to have written the lyrics of South Korean national anthem, Aegukga. Early life Ahn was born Ahn Chi-sam on 9 November 1878 in Kangso County, Pyeongan province, Joseon (present-day South Pyongan, North Korea). He was the third son of father An Hŭng-kuk, and mother Hwang Mong-un. Ahn came from the Sunheung Ahn clan, and his ancestry can be traced back to the prominent Goryeo scholar Ahn Hyang. Ahn was born into an impoverished farming family during the unstable last few decades of the Joseon dynasty. He began studying at a seodang around age 8 in preparation for the gwageo, the demanding civil service examinations that determined placement in government intellectual jobs. After his father died when he was around age 11, he was raised by his grandfather.