Universalist Takdir dies at 86<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia lost one of its most influential
\nliterary figures with the death of veteran writer Sutan Takdir
\nAlisjahbana here yesterday morning. He was 86 years old.<\/p>\n
Takdir died at the Harapan Kita hospital where he had been
\ntreated since June 14 for lung complications that developed
\nfollowing a heart attack.<\/p>\n
Takdir, leader of Angkatan Pujangga Baru in 1930, a literary
\ngeneration which advocated universalism, will be buried at his
\nvilla in Tugu, Puncak, today. The participants of the funeral
\nprocession will leave his house at Jl. Duren Bangka 20, South
\nJakarta at 6 a.m., Takdir's youngest son, Mario, said.<\/p>\n
\"Father stopped swimming four months ago,\" he said, referring
\nto Takdir's favorite past time even at his advanced age.<\/p>\n
Ironically, he was in the middle of completing his latest
\nnovel entitled Dan Hidup Berjalan Terus (And Life Goes On).<\/p>\n
He also left unfinished business with the controversy over the
\nleadership of the Jakarta-based Universitas Nasional, which he
\nhelped to found.<\/p>\n
Takdir is survived by his third wife, German-born Margret
\nAxer, and eight children, 17 grandchildren and three great
\ngrandchildren.<\/p>\n
Takdir's first two wives were from the Javanese nobility. The
\nfirst was R.A. Rohani Daha whom he married in 1929. She died in
\n1935 in Jakarta. The second was Raden Roro Sugiarti, whom he
\nmarried in 1941. She died in Los Angeles in 1952. He married
\nMargret in 1953.<\/p>\n
Born in Natal, North Sumatra, on Feb. 11, 1908, Takdir began
\nhis career at the age of 20, after finishing his education up to
\nthe high school level at the Hogere Kweekschool in Bandung in
\n1928.<\/p>\n
He then started writing novels like Tak Putus Dirundung Malang
\n(1929), Dian tak Kunjung Padam (1932), and Anak Perawan di
\nSarang Penyamun (1941).<\/p>\n
Modernism<\/p>\n
His most significant step was the one he made in the 1930s
\nwhen he, together with Amir Hamzah and Armijn Pane, established
\nthe literary avant garde movement Angkatan Pujangga Baru, which
\nsought to promote modernism and pledged to eliminate chauvinism
\nand provincialism.<\/p>\n
This new era was highlighted with Takdir's romance Layar
\nTerkembang (1937).<\/p>\n
He finished his higher education at the Rechtshogeschool law
\nschool and in literature at Letterkundige Fakulteit, in Jakarta
\nin 1942.<\/p>\n
Critics said Takdir changed the direction of the style of his
\nnovels to that of \"novels of discussion\" in Grotta Azzura (1971)
\nand Kalah dan Menang (1978). They said his novels became dry and
\ncolored with rationalism.<\/p>\n
During his lifetime, Takdir was involved in many controversies
\nsurrounding his veneration for Western modernism.<\/p>\n
Takdir also wrote several non-fiction books. Among the most
\nimportant are Values as Integrating Forces in Personality, and
\nCulture (1966); Indonesia: Social and Cultural Revolution (1969);
\nTatabahasa baru Bahasa Indonesia (2 series), Language Planning
\nfor Modernization and The case of Indonesian and Malaysian
\n(1976).<\/p>\n
Appearing at the condolence visit yesterday were literary
\nfigures like Mochtar Lubis, Taufik Ismail, Des Alwi, Ilen
\nSurianegara, educators like Koentjaraningrat, officials from the
\nJapan foundation, NGO leaders, and former military officers like
\nSayidiman Suryohadiprodjo and Ali Sadikin.<\/p>\n
Ali Sadikin, leader of the staunch government critics, Petisi
\n50, described Takdir as a progressive and tough person. \"He was a
\nsurvivor of controversies and attacks,\" he said. (prs)<\/p>",
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