Umar Kayam (1932-2002)

An Indonesian sociologist and writer born in Ngawi, East Java. He began his education at Hollands Inlands School (HIS) Mangkunegoro, Surakarta, where his father also taught. He continued his education at MULO(Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs), then also continued studying language at a high school in Yogyakarta until 1951. He graduated from the Faculty of Education at Gadjah Mada University (1955), received a M.A. from University of New York, United States of America (1963), and received a Ph.D. from Cornell University, United States(1965). He was appointed Director General of Radio, Television, and Film in the Ministry of Information, a position which he held until 1969, when he began to serve as Chairman of the Jakarta Arts Council (1969-1972). He served as a Director for Social Studies Training Centre at the Hasanuddin University in Makassar (1975-1976) and as a member of the MPRS (People’s Consultative Assembly). He was a lecturer at the University of Indonesia and a senior fellow at the East-West Centre in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States (1973). He was a Chairman of the National Film Council, a senior professor in the Faculty of Letters at the Gadjah Mada University and an emeritus professor at that same university until his death. A member of the advisory board of Horizon (magazine), Chairman of the Jakarta Arts Institute and a member of the Jakarta Academy, a lifetime position since his appointment in 1988.