Subagio Sastrowardoyo
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Subagio Sastrowardoyo (February 1, 1924-July 18, 1995) was an Indonesian poet[1], short-story writer, essayist and literary critic. Born in Madiun, East Java, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), he was educated at Gadjah Mada University, Cornell University and Yale University. For many years, he was a director of Balai Pustaka, a publishing firm in Indonesia, as well as a professor at Salisbury College of Advanced Education and Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, and Ohio University.
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[edit] Family
Prof. Sastrowardoyo was a son (the 11th of 14 children) of Raden Mas Sutejo Sastrowardoyo (1876-1968), a wedono of the Uteran District in Madiun[2], and Raden Ayu Ratna Suyati Sastrowardoyo (née Kartokusumo) (1887-1980), a noblewoman descended from a minister of the Majapahit Empire. His wife was Sumarni Sastrowardoyo (?-2002). They are survived by three children -- Saraswati Nortkus[3], Rukmiati (also known as Minuk) Richards and Prakoso Sastrowardoyo – and two grandchildren, Anton Nortkus and Kristof Nortkus.
Prof. Sastrowardoyo's siblings included Prof. Mr. Soenario, S.H., minister of foreign affairs from 1953 to 1955; Dra. Sukanti Suryochondro, a former instructor in women's studies at the University of Indonesia; Subekti Sastrowardojo, who died in infancy during the 1918 influenza pandemic; Suryono Sastrowardoyo, a career diplomat whose posts included Singapore, Italy, the United States and Poland; Dr. Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo, a physician, surgeon and memoirist; and Sumarsongko H. Sastrowardoyo, M.A., formerly of the staff of the Consulate General of Indonesia in New York City. Prof. Sastrowardoyo had been the best man of his brother Sumarsongko's wedding in 1962.
His family name was derived from sastra (Sanskrit, writings) and wardaya (Sanskrit, heart), so literally meant "writings of the heart." In the old Dutch spelling, the family name had been spelled Sastrowardojo but, even prior to the spelling reform in Indonesia in 1972, some members had changed the j to a y -- and one brother, Sudibbyo, spelled the name Sastrowardhoyo, reflecting the aspirant d.
Prof. Sastrowardoyo's first name has also been spelled Soebagio and Soebagyo.
His father, Sutejo Sastrowardoyo, traced the family's ancestry back to 15th century Java.
[edit] Awards and legacy
In 1986, Prof. Sastrowardoyo, as a representative of Balai Pustaka, presented the Pegasus Prize for Literature to Ismail Marahimin, author of And the War is Over, in New York City[4].
In 1987 he was one of the founders of the Lontar Foundation.
Prof. Sastrowardoyo was awarded the S.E.A. Write Award in 1991.
A year after his death, Prof. Sastrowardoyo was quoted in an essay by Barbara Crossette for the Week in Review section of The New York Times:
A few years ago, [John] McGlynn's foundation collected Indonesians' impressions of the United States, many of them unsettling, in a book called On Foreign Shores. One of the poets, Ajip Rosidi, reacted to New York in a poem titled "Manhattan Sonnet." "Is it within these strong and rigid walls / one's sense of safety nestles? / All I find here is vigilance, the source of apprehension." His compatriot Subagio Sastrowardoyo wrote about a city "where life is cheap." New York's greed, he said, "has made this place too confined for prayer or a human voice."[5]
The Australian composer Betty Beath based a composition, "Manusia Pertama di Angkasa Luar...The First Man in Outer Space" on a poem by Subagio Sastrowardoyo.[6]
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Poetry
- Simphoni (1957)
- Daerah Perbatasan (1970)
- Keroncong Motinggo (1975)
- Buku Harian (1979)
- Hari dan Hara (1982)
- Kematian Makin Akrab (1995).
[edit] Literary Criticism
- Sastra Hindia Belanda dan Kita (1990)
[edit] Anthologies
- On Foreign Shores: American Images in Indonesian Poetry (1990) ISBN 9798083024
- John H. McGlynn and E.U. Kratz, eds., Walking Westward in Morning: Seven Contemporary Indonesian Poets (1990) ISBN 9798083032
- John H. McGlynn, ed., Menagerie 1 (1992) ISBN 9794072389
- Iem Brown and Joan Davis, eds., Di Serambi/On the Verandah: A Bilingual Anthology of Modern Indonesian Poetry (1995) ISBN 9780521472029
[edit] References
- ^ http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sastera_Indonesia
- ^ http://www.hamline.edu/apakabar/basisdata/1996/05/27/0017.html
- ^ http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Saras.Sastro
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtsindo2005/20233196/
- ^ Crossette, Barbara. "Introspection and Repression: Why Indonesia Isn't Talking." The New York Times, 23 June 1996.
- ^ http://www.users.bigpond.com/beathcox/
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