Deliar Noer (9 February 1926 – 17 June 2008) was an Indonesian Muslim scholar, politician, and lecturer, who was a former rector of the

State University of Jakarta State University of Jakarta ( Indonesian: ''Universitas Negeri Jakarta'', commonly abbreviated as UNJ) is a public university in Jakarta, Indonesia. Founded in 1964 as the Jakarta Institute of Teaching and Education (IKIP Jakarta), it was later co ...

Biography

Early life

Noer was born in

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...

, North Sumatra on 9 February 1926. He was a Minang descent, from Bukittinggi, West Sumatra. After graduating from high school, he attended to

Universitas Nasional The National University ( id, Universitas Nasional, UNAS) is the oldest private university in Jakarta and the second oldest in Indonesia. It was founded as the National Academy by several Indonesian scholars on October 15, 1949. UNAS has been ac ...

and became a chairman of Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam. After he obtained a

baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

, he continued to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and became the first Indonesian that obtained

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in political science through a dissertation titled ''The Modernist Muslim Movement in Indonesia 1900-1942''.

Political career

In early New Order era, he became an advisory staff of President

Soeharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto l ...

. Then he resigned because of different ideologies with other staff, and together with

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta (; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman and nationalist who served as the country's first vice president. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indone ...

, they founded Partai Demokrasi Islam Indonesia (Indonesian Islamic Democratic Party), but the party was not approved by government. In

reformation era The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, he founded Partai Ummat Islam (Islamic Community Party), but did not get enough votes to surpass the parliamentary threshold in 1999 elections.

Controversy and death

He served as a rector of IKIP Jakarta (Institute of Teaching and Education Sciences of Jakarta) for seven years. In June 1974, he was fired a few months before deemed provocative against Minister of Education and Culture Sjarif Thayeb. Around ten years earlier, he also was prohibited to teach at

Universitas Sumatera Utara The University of Sumatera Utara ( id, Universitas Sumatera Utara) or USU is a public university located in the city of Medan in North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is situated in Padang Bulan, in the Medan Baru subdistrict of Medan, close to the City C ...

by Thayeb who served as Minister of Natural Sciences and Higher Educations as he was accused of subversion and being a United States' stooge. After being banned from teaching throughout Indonesia, he accepted an offer to become researcher from

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. The second year in Australia, he became guest lecturer at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

. After teaching for five years, he and

Mohammad Natsir Mohammad Natsir (17 July 19086 February 1993) was an Islamic scholar and politician. He was Indonesia's fifth prime minister. After moving to Bandung from his hometown Solok, West Sumatra for senior high school, Natsir studied Islamic doctrine e ...

formed Lembaga Islam untuk Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat (Islamic Institution for Community Development and Research). Noer died on 17 June 2008.

Personal life

In 1961, he married Zahara Daulay in United States when he studied at Cornell University. He had a son and three grandchildren.

References

Bibliography

* * 1926 births 2008 deaths Indonesian Muslims Minangkabau people Cornell University alumni {{indonesia-bio-stub