Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana (11 February 1908 – 17 July 1994) was an Indonesian author.
He was born in
Natal,
North Sumatra
North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...
. His family came from
Minangkabau who migrated there in the 19th century. He was a founder and editor of ''
Poedjangga Baroe''. He became one of Indonesian literature's guiding lights in its formative years, particularly in the time around independence. Sutan Takdir believed that Indonesia could learn from the values of
western civilization and remained a great exponent of modernism throughout his life. A Renaissance man himself – the author of numerous books on a range of subjects – he was working on a novel at the time of his death in 1994. The famous novel, ''
Layar Terkembang
''Layar Terkembang'' (''With Sails Unfurled'') is an Indonesian novel by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana. Published in 1936 or 1937 by Balai Pustaka, it tells the story of two sisters and their relationship with a medical student. It has been noted as em ...
'', showed him as a progressive author. He died in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
on 17 July 1994.
Biography
Alisjahbana was born on 11 February 1908.
His first novel, ''Tak Putus Dirundung Malang'' (Misfortune without End) was published by
Balai Pustaka in 1929.
STA
Together with
Amir Hamzah and
Armijn Pane, they founded and edited a journal that contained the best work of prewar writers, called ''
Poedjangga Baroe'' (The New Writer), and the journal was first published in 1933. In 1953, he edited ''Konfrontasi'' (Confrontation) as a substitute for ''Poedjangga Baroe''.
Under
Japanese occupation, in 1943 he became a secretary of the Komisi Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian Language Commission). From 1946 to 1948, he was a professor of the Indonesian language at National University, Jakarta.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alisjahbana, Sutan Takdir
1908 births
1994 deaths
Indonesian writers
Indonesian philosophers
Indonesian male poets
Minangkabau people
20th-century Indonesian poets
Sutan Takdir
20th-century male writers