[Choi Seung-hee 100 Scenes] 26. Date of Birth

While researching Choi Seung-hee’s life and dance career, many new discoveries have come to light, but there have also been numerous instances where previously misreported details should be corrected. Among these, one of the most peculiar errors was Choi Seung-hee’s birthday.

 

Most literature had listed Choi's birthday as "November 24, 1911," but her actual date of birth was "December 24, 1911." In addition, since this date was based on the lunar calendar (=the Sihyeon calendar), her actual birthday according to the solar calendar (the Gregorian calendar) was February 11, 1912.

 

 

How could such basic information be misinformed? Choi's date of birth could have been easily confirmed by examining her family register and passport records. There were multiple mistakes, though. And there were also circumstances where such mistakes could occur. I wrote a separate paper on the detailed progress where the mistake was identified and corrected, and reported it on a seminar.

 

I first encountered Choi's real birthday during my research trip to Tokyo, Japan in 2018. On May 10 of that year, I visited the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, accompanied by photographer Mr. An Hae-ryong (안해룡) and Ms. Knugi Ena (功刀惠那), then a graduate student in the Department of Information and Archival Science at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. It was the first day of my research on Choi's performances in Japan, after covering Choi's European tour and writing a report about it.

 

 

The purpose of that day's research was to check Choi's passport records. The original application and issuance records of Choi's passport had been discarded because the retention period expired. However, there remained a catalog of passport applications and issuance status, and we were able to confirm the passport numbers and issue dates for Choi's and her husband, Ahn Pil-seung (안필승, aka Ahn Mak, 안막).

 

Ahn’s passport number was 340978, and Choi's 340980; both were issued on September 10, 1937. Their travel destinations were Western countries, specifically multiple nations in Europe and Americas (歐米諸國).

 

Accomplishing the research objective of the day to verify Choi's passport records with these information, we were also able to confirm the couple's birth dates and original residence address in Seoul. The registered domicile of the couple was listed as “56-8 Ikseon-dong, Gyeongseong-bu,” which was the address where Ahn and Choi had lived shortly after their marriage in May 1931, separating their household from their parents'.

 

일본외무성외교사자료관에서 발굴된 최승희 가족의 여권신청 기록, 안막과 최승희 부부의 여권은 1937년 9얼10일에 발급되었으나, 딸 안승자의 여권신청은 거부된 것으로 보인다. 이 기록에 따르면 최승희의 생년월일은 1911년 12월24일이지만, 이는 음력 날짜를 양력처럼 사용한 것이므로, 실제의 생일은 양력 1912년 2월11일이다. (사진은 필자 촬영ⓒ조정희)

 

What surprised me was Choi's birth date record on the cataog. Ahn's birth date was April 18, 1910, which matched the date I remembered. However, Choi's birth date looked somewhat strange. Although it was difficult to read because it was blurred and smudged, it appeared to be different from the date I knew. The year 1911 (=Meiji 44) was correct, but the birthday appeared to differ from the previously known November 24.

 

I printed out the page of the catalog asked two people to verify the Choi's birth date. Ms. Kunugi and Mr. Sakuma Takeshi (佐久間健), a curator at the Diplomatic Archives. They both read it as “December 24, 1911.” When I asked again whether it was December 24 or November 24, they confirmed that it was December 24.

 

 

The discovery was a bit “unusual” but didn't look particularly “important,” so it was soon forgotten. However, as I continued my research in Japan, I found a succession of documents raising doubt on Choi’s birth date, and there were increasing instances where it did not match the European documents I had collected earlier.

 

Eventually, I decided to investigate this issue, compiled my findings into a thesis, and presented them at the Senkyu Bunko's(青丘文庫) monthly seminar held at the Kobe Municipal Central Library on November 12, 2023. It has been five years since I first encountered conflicting document regarding Choi’s birth date.

 

 

Although the investigation took a long period time and involved a wide variety of reference materials, the conclusion was concise enough to be summarized in a single sentence. Choi Seung-hee’s date of birth was “December 24, Shinhae(辛亥) Year” in the lunar calendar; while this is recorded in Japanese official documents as “December 24, Meiji 44 (1911),” the actual solar calendar date was “February 11, 1912.” (jc, 12/25/2025; 3/25/2026) © Cho Jeong-hee