Sumitro dies at 84 of heart failure

Sumitro dies at 84 of heart failure

JAKARTA (JP): The father of modern Indonesian economics has
passed away. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo died in Jakarta of heart
failure late on Thursday night. He was 84. His death brings to a
close a life that was both fruitful and eventful.

Sumitro was born in Kebumen, Central Java, on May 29, 1917,
the eldest son in an aristocratic Javanese family. He spent his
childhood in Java before moving to Europe, where he received his
academic training, first at the prestigious Sorbonne University
in Paris and later at Economische Hogeschool (the College of
Economics) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

He first won recognition as an economist at the age of 29,
serving as an adviser to the Dutch delegation attending the
United Nations Security Council meeting in London in 1946.

Returning home to Indonesia in March of that same year to take
his place in the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia, he went
on to serve a string of successive governments, first as an
assistant to prime minister Sutan Sjahrir in 1946 and later as
the deputy chief delegate representing Indonesia at the UN
Security Council meeting at Lake Success in 1948.

After the country received international recognition in
December 1949, Sumitro became charge d'affaires at the Indonesian
Embassy in Washington, before becoming one of five experts
assisting the UN secretary-general.

He served as minister of trade and industry (1950) and
minister of finance (1952) under president Sukarno, and was a
member of president Soeharto's advisory team in 1968. He served
in several of Soeharto's Cabinets, as minister of trade in 1968
and minister of research and technology in 1973. He is also
remembered as a founder and dean of the University of Indonesia's
School of Economics.

Seemingly secure in his professional and academic careers,
Sumitro's life was nevertheless often full of turmoil. Charges of
corruption, though never proven, beleaguered him as a Cabinet
minister in the 1950s, a time when the country was experimenting
with parliamentary democracy and bitter political bickering was
the order of the day.

During the latter part of the 1950s, he became involved in
what is known as the PRRI-Permesta Affair, in which several
disgruntled provinces in Sumatra and Sulawesi declared their
independence from the central government in Jakarta. The movement
was quickly crushed and Sumitro, with other backers of the
movement, fled abroad.

Sumitro and other supporters of the movement rejected
Sukarno's offer of pardon and safe return on the condition they
repent and recognize Sukarno's leadership.

Eventually returning to Indonesia after the fall of the
Sukarno regime in 1967, Sumitro carefully distanced himself from
the banned and discredited Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI), of
which he had been an important member. This reinforced the image
of Sumitro as an opportunist, a label he had a difficult time
shedding, at least in the eyes of some.

The marriage of his eldest son, Prabowo Subianto, a former
chief of the Army's Special Force and the Army Strategic Reserves
Command, to Titiek Hediati, a daughter of then president
Soeharto, did little to dampen this view, even though some of his
statements and criticisms of Soeharto's policies leave little
doubt he remained true to his ideals to the end.

As an economist, Sumitro was a prolific writer and some of his
works have become accepted as standard textbook material at
universities throughout the country.

Though fate dictated that he should be embroiled in politics
for much of his life, economics always remained at the center of
Sumitro's interests. In that respect, it is difficult to find an
Indonesian economist who can match Professor Sumitro in his
dedication to his chosen profession and his desire to use his
considerable knowledge for the good of the country. (hpr)