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The late Cho Chang-soo |
Cho Chang-soo, a former curator of the Smithsonian Institution, passed away at the age of 83 last Friday night. She is survived by her son, Eric Swanson, general manager of the Millennium Seoul Hilton.
Cho began working at the Smithsonian in 1965 and was instrumental in returning 93 items of historic value to Korea, including the national seals of Emperors Kojong and Sunjong of the Joseon Dynasty.
She wrote 24 books in her life time, spent mostly in Washington, D.C. and her home in McLean, Virginia. The last of them was ``Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The Bernadou Collection.''
Cho dedicated herself to introducing Korean traditional history and culture into American society.
She helped organize three exhibitions in Korea ― the first in 1997 and the last in 2003, which carried the theme of relations between South Korea and the United States.
Cho was also the central person in the opening of a Korean Exhibition Hall at the Smithsonian in 2007. Unfortunately, she was too ill to attend the opening ceremony.
She donated 400 million won, her life savings, to the Smithsonian as well, asking that it be used for research on culture and humanity in Asia.
Her funeral service is to be held at Yonsei Severance Hospital at 10 a.m. today.
Jakenho@koreatimes.co.kr
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