George M. McCune
George McAfee McCune | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | November 5, 1948 | (aged 40)
Nationality | American |
Education |
|
Occupation | Linguist |
Known for | McCune–Reischauer system of romanization of Korean |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 조지 매커피 "맥" 매큔 |
Revised Romanization | Joji Maekeopi "Maeng" Maekyun |
McCune–Reischauer | Choji Maek'ŏp'i "Maeng" Maek'yun |
George McAfee "Mac" McCune (/məˈkjuːn/; June 16, 1908 – November 5, 1948) was an American scholar of Korea who developed the McCune–Reischauer romanization system of Korean with Edwin O. Reischauer. He taught Korean history and language at Occidental College and the University of California, Berkeley.
Early life and education
Born in
The McCunes worked in Pyongyang and
McCune moved to the United States to attend Huron College in South Dakota, where his father was president,[1] and after a year transferred to Rutgers University in New Jersey. He graduated from Occidental College with a bachelor's degree in 1930. McCune returned to Korea for a few years, and taught at Union Christian College in Pyongyang, where his parents were working. He also owned and managed Taeon, a formerly Chinese-owned business, which enabled him to finance his graduate education.[1]
McCune returned to the US and completed his
In 1939, he and
Marriage and family
He married Evelyn Margaret Becker (1907-2012) in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 22, 1933. She was a child of American Methodist missionary parents and also had been born in Pyongyang. They had met there while both were visiting their respective families. She was teaching at the Seoul Foreign School in Seoul, Korea, after getting her BA at University of California, Berkeley.
They became engaged and then married during a crisis because of McCune's health problems; his heart had been weakened by the rheumatic fever that he suffered from as a child.
Career
McCune began teaching Korean language and history at Occidental College, where he taught from 1939 to 1946, advancing from the rank of Instructor to Associate Professor.[2]
Soon after the
In 1946, he began teaching at UC, Berkeley. In 1948, he was promoted to associate professor of history at Berkeley, but he died that year because of heart problems.
At Berkeley, he had helped establish an intensive course in the Korean language in the Far Eastern and Russian Language School of the University Extension. In addition, he acquired for the East Asiatic Library several hundred volumes in the Korean language: "These constitute one of the first such collections in this country."[2]
"He was a member of the Far Eastern Association, the Foreign Policy Association, the American Historical Association, the
His brother, Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune (1913–1993), became a geographer and wrote several books about Korea for the general public.[3][2]
References
- ^ a b c Heather McAfee McCune Thompson, A Daughter's Journey: Birth to Marriage: the Story of Evelyn Becker McCune, Arthur L. Becker, Her Father and George McAfee McCune, Her Husband, Lulu, pp. 85, 87, 108, 161, 164
- ^ a b c d e "George McAfee McCune, History: Berkeley". University of California. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-313-26788-8.