Prof. Otto Soemarwoto (19 February 1926 – 1 April 2008Obituary
/ref>) was an Indonesian botanist and professor of plant physiology at

Padjadjaran University Padjadjaran University id, Universitas Padjajaran, abbreviated as UNPAD) is a public university located in Sumedang Regency and Bandung, which is the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. It was established on September 11, 1957. UNPAD ha ...

Indonesians in Focus: Otto Soemarwoto
/ref> and was director of the National Biology Institute from 1964 to 1972;History of Bogor Botanic Garden in Indonesia
Accessed June 2, 2008. he also served as director of the Institute of Ecology from 1972 until 1991. His work in the latter role has been cited as a primary influence on the resettlement strategy during Indonesia's

Saguling Dam The Saguling Dam is an embankment dam on the headwater of Citarum River in West Java, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consist ...

project. Born in Purwokerto, as a child Soemarwoto was an avid reader, liked traveling out of town and was fond of plants. He studied at a nautical training high school in

Cilacap Cilacap Regency ( jv, ꦏꦨꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦕꦶꦭꦕꦥ꧀, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese: ) is a regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap. ...

and, after completing his training at the high school, he worked as a deck officer on a wooden boat that travelled the Jakarta-Lampung route. Soemarwoto joined the student militia during the Indonesian struggle for independence, and upon its proclamation continued his studies at the School of Agriculture at

Gadjah Mada University Gadjah Mada University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦓꦗꦃꦩꦢ; id, Universitas Gadjah Mada, abbreviated as UGM) is a Public university, public research university located in Sleman Regency, Sleman, Yogyakarta (special region) ...

(UGM), Yogyakarta, of which he graduated in 1949. He taught at UGM before being sent to study plant physiology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he stayed until 1959. An avid environmentalist, the professor was appointed so in 1960. In 1964 he was named director of the Bogor Botanical Garden at Padjajaran University. Soemarwoto was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the

Order of the Golden Ark The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark ( nl, Orde van de Gouden Ark) is a Dutch order of merit established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation. Although not ...

from the Netherlands'

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

, and the Global 500 award from the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

. He died in Bandung on 1 April 2008, aged 82.

Bibliography

*''Pembangunan Berkelanjutan: antara Konsep dan Realitas'' (Sustainable Development: between Concept and Reality, 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soemarwoto, Otto 1926 births 2008 deaths Javanese people Banyumasan people Indonesian environmentalists Indonesian biologists 21st-century botanists Plant physiologists 20th-century biologists