Roosseno dies of diabetes at 88
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)