Anak Agung dies at 78

JAKARTA: Former minister and king of Gianyar Anak Agung Gde Agung died in his grand temple in Bali on Thursday. He was 78 years old.

Prior to his death, Anak Agung had been treated for ailing health due to old age at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, U.S., and Hollywood private hospital in Perth, Australia.

The son of Bali king Anak Agung Ngurah Agung, Anak Agung showed an interest in politics and history since early childhood.

His dissertation, titled Renville Pact: A Turning Point in Negotiations between Indonesia and the Netherlands, has been published in Dutch.

It revealed new and unexpected things, such as the fact that the second wave of aggression by the Netherlands on Dec. 19, 1948 toward Indonesia had been carefully and well prepared by the Dutch after the Renville agreement was signed on Feb. 18, 1948.

Anak Agung was also involved in formatting the first Cabinet of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (RIS) along with independence proclaimer Mohammad Hatta and Yogyakarta monarch Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX.

Born in Gianyar, Bali, on July 24, 1921, Anak Agung was a minister of home affairs in the RIS era and a prime minister of the East Indonesia State.

Other senior positions included envoy to Brussels, Luxembourg, Spain, France and Australia.

Through his long political career, Anak Agung received various medals of honor. Among them were Le Grand Cross Leopold from Belgium, the Grand Order of Austria and the Grand Order van Oranje-Nassau of the Netherlands. (edt)