Biography written with love<\/p>\n
By Arief Suditomo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A biography which is also a love story will soon
\nmaterialize on bookshop shelves entitled My life with Eri-san: A
\nFreedom Fighter, written by Mrs. Mang Eri Soedewo about her late
\nhusband, Ambassador Eri Soedewo.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Mang said she was motivated to write about her husband
\nafter she was asked by Eri's close friends and colleagues, Frank
\nWard, former U.S. ambassador to Sweden and Svante Tornvall,
\nformer Chilean ambassador also to Sweden, about the availability
\nof her husband's autobiography.<\/p>\n
\"I told them Eri did not have much time to write about his
\nlife because he was preoccupied in writing another book about his
\nformer dormitory at Jl. Prapatan 10, Central Jakarta, a place
\nwhich produced dozens of Indonesian dignitaries,\" she said at the
\nlaunching of the book on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian dignitaries who stayed at the Jl. Prapatan
\ndormitory include former Minister of Health Soewardjono
\nSoeryaningrat, the late former Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S.
\nSoedjatmoko, shipping tycoon Soedarpo Sastrosatomo and former
\nMinister of Education Sjarif Thajeb.<\/p>\n
Mang said that Eri's close friends insisted that she herself
\nshould write a biography.<\/p>\n
\"I am just an ordinary housewife, I express my love through my
\ncooking, but writing is another story because I have never
\nwritten a book before,\" she said at the time.<\/p>\n
Mang then changed her mind because she realized her husband
\nled a very interesting life and she came to a point where she
\ndecided writing his biography was the right way to express her
\nlove for Eri.<\/p>\n
Eri Soedewo, the former Indonesian ambassador to Sweden who
\ndied aged 65 on Nov. 30, 1984 after succumbing to liver cancer,
\naccomplished much in his life. As a doctor he attained
\nprofessorate for his expertise in heart and thorax surgery. As a
\nmilitary man he was a major general in the army.<\/p>\n
As a lecturer Eri was appointed as rector at one of the most
\nprestigious educational institutions in this country, the state-
\nowned Airlangga University, from 1966 to 1974. He was appointed
\nambassador to Sweden in 1974 and retained the post until 1979.<\/p>\n
Eri was also a sportsman who was sent by the government to
\nparticipate in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome with the yachting
\nteam.<\/p>\n
Realizing what a perfect man her husband was, Mang found
\nherself a tutor, Australian writer Lolo Holbein, in 1989. And for
\nabout three years she went back and forth to Adelaide, Australia,
\nfor tutelage and to write the biography.<\/p>\n
\"I stayed in Adelaide mostly during spring,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Mang said she interviewed many friends of her husband to
\nrecall some of the memories which she had only vague
\nrecollections of.<\/p>\n
The book was finished in 1993 and for about a year Mang went
\nto Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to find a publisher.<\/p>\n
\"I almost lost my faith in the 600-page biography because
\nnobody wanted to publish it. Then I approached the Airlangga
\nState University, which has a publishing business, and they
\nagreed to publish it,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Among friends of her late husband whom she interviewed were
\nSoedarpo Sastrosatomo, a national shipping tycoon who was also a
\nmedical student, former Speaker of the House of Representatives
\nKharis Soehoed, former Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. Azhari
\nand former Indonesian ambassador to West Germany Muskita.<\/p>\n
Mang said 3,000 copies have been printed in the first edition
\nby the Airlangga State University and will sell at Rp 25,000
\n(US$11.4) per copy.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Rahmi Hatta, the widow of the late former Vice President
\nMoh. Hatta, said at the book's launching party that the book is
\nworth reading.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that Mang's sincerity and honesty will make the
\nbiography she wrote a very nice book worth reading,\" she said.<\/p>\n
However, Mang said that the biography is just a book which is
\neasy to read and was written with much love.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/biography-written-with-love-1447898607",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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