World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseYi Geon was born to Yi Gang (Prince Imperial Eui) and Lady Jeong in 1909. his paternal grandfather was Emperor Gwangmu of Korea. In 1918, he enrolled in the prestigious Gakushuin Primary School in Japan. In 1930, he was commissioned into the Japanese Army as a cavalry junior officer. In 1931, he married Yoshiko Matsudaira. In 1932, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, followed by captain in 1936. In the 1930s, he served as the instructor of horsemanship at the Japanese Military Academy. In 1940, he was promoted to the rank of major. In 1943, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was at the rank of colonel when the war ended in 1945. He remained in Japan after the war. In Oct 1947, he lost his royal status by the orders of Douglas MacArthur's administration. In 1950, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen under the name of Kenichi Momoyama. In 1951, he divorced Yoshiko Matsudaira and married Yoshiko Maeda. He passed away in 1990; Prince Takahito of Mikasa of the Japanese Imperial family attended his funeral.

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Yi Geon Timeline