William A. Kirk

Architect, civil engineer, realtor

Real name – Vsevolod Alexandrovich Kirkor. Father A. N. Kirkor operated Kirkor Pharmacy, first in Harbin and later in Shanghai.

Born in Petrograd on 15 January 1901. Graduated from the Khabarovsk Marine Academy in 1919 and joined the Siberian Fleet, which soon retreated to Shanghai. In the 1930s, Kirkor was member of the Russian National Committee and instructor of the Russian Scouts Association; he always retained links with Russian naval officers.

Kirkor practiced architecture in Shanghai since 1925, under the name Wm. A. Kirk 高尔克, with an address at 133 Yuen Ming Yuen Road. He claimed to have been educated in the USA and to have briefly worked in C. H. Gonda's architectural firm.

In early 1934, the Belmont Apartments for Joseph G. Bell was built upon Kirk's design – "a six story reinforced concrete building with 18 units and separate garages." In May 1934, Wm. A Kirk published ambitious designs of a large hospital and a railway station reception hall for Peiping-Liaoning Railway in Tianjin. The hospital was built at the cost of $210,000 and inaugurated in March 1936.

In 1935, Kirk published the design of a 23-story office tower for downtown Shanghai. Later that year, he partnered with the Dutch architect G. Th. Ubink and changed the English name of the firm to Kirk & Ubink. The duo publicized the project of the Massenet Apartments for the French Concession. In November 1935, the cornerstone was laid for a large hospital for the Russian community. The construction, however, halted, the partnership with Ubink dissolved, and Kirk left for the USA.

In June 1937, Kirkor was extradited from the US to face multiple charges in Shanghai, for "having defrauded Norman Yu, building contractor, of $1,500, which he allegedly received as commission of a building job that never materialized." Another charge was by the owner of an iron factory, for the commission of $2,244, and by a landowner in the French Concession. Kirk was found guilty and sentenced to an 8-month imprisonment. 

In July 1939, Kirk was arrested again, for attempts "to defraud 20 newly arrived German Jewish refugees of about $10,000." Together with his accomplice Naum Droos, Kirk opened the Canadian and Oriental Exporters, with an office at Jinkee Road, and concluded contracts with the refugees, "promising them cheap houses on Tongshan Road against the advanced payment of key money and rentals." Because the houses were actually constructed – as confirmed by the well-known Shanghai architect C. H. Gonda – Kirk was acquitted of fraud, but found "guilty of intimidation when pressing payment of key money and rent." He was sentenced to a fine of $630 or a 6-month imprisonment. 

As a result of these cases, Wm. A. Kirk was marked as a criminal in the police files of both foreign settlements. He was also suspected of ties with the Soviet spies.

In 1939–1941, Wm. A. Kirk was agent for a number of trade companies in Shanghai and traveled extensively to North China and Japan. At the same time, he continued his architectural practice from an office at 445 Rue Cardinal Mercier. From the look of his projects, it appears he preferred additive shapes and complex facades. 

In 1951, Kirkor was in Sverdlovsk, USSR, working as a constructor at a copper plant, when he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years of forced labor. (Openlist.wiki) His life after 1952 remains unknown.