Writer Nasjah Djamin dies at 73

Writer Nasjah Djamin dies at 73

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's profound writer and painter
Nasjah Djamin died here Thursday of diabetic complications and
was buried yesterday. He was 73.

Known for memorable works, including children's books Si Pai
Bengal (1951) and Hang Tuah (1952), Nasjah was a name that most
students in Indonesia were familiar with as his books were
compulsory reading in school.

"Don't think you're well-educated if you don't read Nasjah
Djamin's books," said Yogyakarta lawyer Marhaban Zainun.

Born in Parbaungan, North Sumatra, on Sept. 24, 1924, Nasjah
chose Yogyakarta as a place to live, and eventually to love,
shortly after Indonesian independence in 1945. He gathered
together with fellow members of the renowned Siliwangi army of
West Java in the historical "Siliwangi Long March".

The march inspired his book titled Di Bawah Kaki Pak Dirman
(Following the Footsteps of Pak Dirman) on the life and struggle
of Gen. Soedirman, the founding father of the Armed Forces.

Among his works was Sekelumit Nyanyian Sunda (A Little Song of
Sunda), which won an award from the Ministry of Education in
1958. His romance novel Helai-helai Sakura Gugur: Gairah untuk
Hidup dan untuk Mati (Sakura Petals: The Passion to Live and to
Die) also received a literary award in 1970. He also painted
various objects he encountered in daily life.

Nasjah married Umi Nafsiah "when he was no longer young", and
had four daughters.

One of his daughters told The Jakarta Post that Nasjah slipped
and fell in the bathroom and lost consciousness. "He had been a
diabetic for a long time," she said.

Nasjah left an unfinished book titled Sebuah Pondokan (A
Boarding House). He became the 12th artist to be buried at the
Artists Cemetery Complex in Girisapto, Imogiri, built by painter
Sapto Hoedojo.

Poet Sitor Situmorang dedicated a poem to Nasjah three weeks
ago, with a line that read: "We realize the meaning of our lives
when we die." (23)