Roosseno dies of diabetes at 88
R. Roosseno, the Indonesian doyen of engineering and minister during the Old Order administration of the late president Sukarno, died of diabetes here yesterday. He was 88.
The recipient of several honors for his outstanding contributions in the fields of science of engineering at both the local and international levels, Roosseno is survived by six children and 20 grandchildren.
His eldest daughter, philosopher Toety Herati Nurhadi, said Roosseno had suffered from the disease for years. "He had just returned home a few days ago after being hospitalized for about one month," Toety said.
Roosseno's body is lying in state at Toety's house on Jl. Cemara 6, Central Jakarta, and will be buried this morning at Karet Tengsin Public Cemetery.
Born in Madiun, East Java, on August 2, 1908, Roosseno was often called "the father of concrete" because of his contributions in developing the technology here. One of the founding fathers of the School of Engineering at the respected Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Roosseno was the man whom younger generations of engineers came to for advice and pointers.
"Many builders came to me when they faced difficulties in any engineering projects," he once said. "I'm the `medicine man' of engineering."
Roosseno was chairman of the team appointed by President Soeharto to repair the eighth-century Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java. He was also former chairman of the Association of Indonesian Builders, which has more than 30,000 members.
Roosseno was also a member of the Zurich-based International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering and the Paris- based Federation International de Precontreinte.
His last positions included rector of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Jakarta and professor at several universities, including the University of Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology, the 17 Agustus University and the Muhammadiyah University.
Roosseno wrote extensively and produced at least 33 handbooks on engineering.
In 1932, Roosseno graduated from the school of technology in Bandung, which is now the Bandung Institute of Technology. He and a fellow student, Sukarno, established an engineering consultancy in Bandung in 1933.
Former president Sukarno later appointed Roosseno as minister of public works and energy in 1953, minister of transportation in 1954, and minister of economy in 1955.
He was also involved in the Partai Indonesia Raya, a fusion of political parties established in 1935 which was later banned by Sukarno in 1955.
Among the honors he received from the New Order administration of President Soeharto were the Satya Lencana medal in 1962, and the Bintang Mahaputra in 1984. Among the bodies from whom he received international recognition were the International Who's Who of Intellectuals in Cambridge, England in 1985, and the Conference of Structural Engineering for Design and Construction in Manila in 1981. (01)