Teuku Iskandar (14 October 1924 – 5 September 2012) was an Indonesian scholar, literary critic and lexicographer.

Life and career

In 1950, Iskandar graduated from Leiden University, in 1955 he defended his doctoral thesis on the ''Hikayat Aceh'', which was later published as a monograph. Iskandar was among the founders of the

Syiah Kuala University Syiah Kuala University ( id, Universitas Syiah Kuala), abbreviated as USK (formerly: ''Unsyiah''), founded on 2 September 1961, is the largest and the oldest national university in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The name of the university is taken from t ...

(Aceh, 1961). For about 13 years he taught at various universities in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

(including

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

), collaborated with Institute of Language and Literature of Malaysia to compile the dictionary ''

Kamus Dewan ''Kamus Dewan'' ( Malay for ''The Institute Dictionary'') is a Malay-language dictionary compiled by Teuku Iskandar and published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. This dictionary is useful to students who are studying Malay literature as they provid ...

'' (1970), which became the first and still the most authoritative explanatory dictionary of the

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...

. Then he worked at the

University of Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD; Jawi: ) is a national research university located in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. It was established in 1985 and has since become the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curric ...

where he received the title of Professor. After having moved to the Netherlands, he became a professor on Malay and Acehnese literature at the University of Leiden. Iskandar died in Leiden on 5 September 2012, at the age of 87.

Awards

*Cultural Award ''Satyalencana'' from the Government of Indonesia (2017; posthumous)

Main publications

* De Hikayat Atjeh. ‘S-Gravenhage: Nederlandsche Boek-en Steendrukkerij V. H. H. L. Smits. (RCLOS 992.1 ISK), 1959. * Some Aspects Concerning the Work of Copyists of Malay Historical Writings // Peninjau Sejarah, 3 (2), 1968. * Kamus Dewan. Kuala Lumpur: DBP, 1970 (second edition 1984) * Hikayat Aceh: Kisah Kepahlawanan Sultan Iskandar Muda. Banda Aceh: Proyek Rehabilitasi dan Perluasan Museum Daerah Istimewa Aceh, 1978. * Kesusasteraan Klasik Melayu Sepanjang Abad. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Kesusasteraan Melayu Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei, 1995. * Catalog of Acehnese Manuscripts. Leiden, University Library / ILDEP 1994 / (Codices Manuscripti XXIV) (with P. Voorhoeve). * Catalog of Malay, Minangkabau, and South Sumatran manuscripts in the Netherlands. 2 vols., Xiv, 1095 pp. Leiden: Documentatiebureau Islam-Christendom, 1999.(review) Vladimir Braginsky. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 64 (03): 401 - 455, October 2001 * Hikayat Aceh. Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan Karyawan (R 959.81 ISK), 2001. * Aceh as a Muslim-Malay Cultural Center (14th-19th Century) // First International Conference ofAceh and Indian Ocean Studies February 24–27, 2007. Organized byAsia Research Institute, National University of Singapore & Rehabilitation and Construction Executing Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR), Banda Aceh, Indonesia 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iskandar, Teuku 1924 births 2012 deaths University of Malaya faculty Acehnese people Indonesian lexicographers Indonesian literary critics Indonesian Muslims Universiti Brunei Darussalam faculty