Paku Alam VIII dies at 88

Paku Alam VIII dies at 88

JAKARTA (JP): Sri Paku Alam VIII, Yogyakarta's traditional
monarch and acting governor, died of old age at Sardjito General
Hospital in Yogyakarta on Friday. He was 88.

Paku Alam died shortly after 5 p.m. He had been in intensive
care for two weeks receiving treatment for heart and kidney
failure.

"He (Paku Alam) was unable to recover because of his old age,"
Antara quoted Ferianto, an on-duty physician at the hospital, as
saying.

Relatives at the Pakualaman royal house were not available to
confirm when the monarch would be buried.

Paku Alam VIII was born in Yogyakarta in 1910, where he spent
his childhood. He was educated both inside and outside the
Pakualaman palace. During his childhood, he was known to be close
to commoners.

"It was not strange because my own father frequently asked me
to play football with the other children outside the palace," he
once said.

He also paid several trips to a number of European countries,
most frequently to the Netherlands.

He was sworn in as a king of Pukualaman palace on April 13,
1937, to replace Sri Paku Alam VII.

He was appointed Yogyakarta's deputy governor in 1950, three
years after he decided to bring his palace into the fledgling
Republic of Indonesia. The provincial governor then was Sri
Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, the leader of the other royal house in
Yogyakarta, who died on Oct. 3, 1988.

Paku Alam assumed the governorship of the province on Dec. 19,
1988.

Paku Alam had two "official" wives who gave him eight sons and
eight daughters. He also had scores of grandchildren.

He was a popular king and a renowned intellectual. He was
considered to be close to his people and gave up his palace for
use as an elementary and junior high school during the conflict
years of the 1940s and 1950s. He also ordered his people to learn
about both Western and Javanese cultures.

Paku Alam will be replaced as governor by Yogyyakarta Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X, who was recently elected to the position by the
Yogyakarta provincial legislative council. (rms)