Writer Nasjah Djamin dies at 73<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's profound writer and painter
\nNasjah Djamin died here Thursday of diabetic complications and
\nwas buried yesterday. He was 73.<\/p>\n
Known for memorable works, including children's books Si Pai
\nBengal (1951) and Hang Tuah (1952), Nasjah was a name that most
\nstudents in Indonesia were familiar with as his books were
\ncompulsory reading in school.<\/p>\n
\"Don't think you're well-educated if you don't read Nasjah
\nDjamin's books,\" said Yogyakarta lawyer Marhaban Zainun.<\/p>\n
Born in Parbaungan, North Sumatra, on Sept. 24, 1924, Nasjah
\nchose Yogyakarta as a place to live, and eventually to love,
\nshortly after Indonesian independence in 1945. He gathered
\ntogether with fellow members of the renowned Siliwangi army of
\nWest Java in the historical \"Siliwangi Long March\".<\/p>\n
The march inspired his book titled Di Bawah Kaki Pak Dirman
\n(Following the Footsteps of Pak Dirman) on the life and struggle
\nof Gen. Soedirman, the founding father of the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
Among his works was Sekelumit Nyanyian Sunda (A Little Song of
\nSunda), which won an award from the Ministry of Education in
\n1958. His romance novel Helai-helai Sakura Gugur: Gairah untuk
\nHidup dan untuk Mati (Sakura Petals: The Passion to Live and to
\nDie) also received a literary award in 1970. He also painted
\nvarious objects he encountered in daily life.<\/p>\n
Nasjah married Umi Nafsiah \"when he was no longer young\", and
\nhad four daughters.<\/p>\n
One of his daughters told The Jakarta Post that Nasjah slipped
\nand fell in the bathroom and lost consciousness. \"He had been a
\ndiabetic for a long time,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Nasjah left an unfinished book titled Sebuah Pondokan (A
\nBoarding House). He became the 12th artist to be buried at the
\nArtists Cemetery Complex in Girisapto, Imogiri, built by painter
\nSapto Hoedojo.<\/p>\n
Poet Sitor Situmorang dedicated a poem to Nasjah three weeks
\nago, with a line that read: \"We realize the meaning of our lives
\nwhen we die.\" (23)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/writer-nasjah-djamin-dies-at-73-1447893297",
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