Mochtar Lubis

Mochtar Lubis (; 7 March 1922 – 2 July 2004) was an Indonesian journalist and novelist who co-founded Indonesia Raya and monthly literary magazine Horison. His novel Senja di Jakarta (Twilight in Jakarta in English) was the first Indonesian novel to be translated into English. He was a critic of Sukarno and was imprisoned by him, as well as by Suharto on several later occasions. He held strong anti-leftist views and was seen by critics as aligned with Indonesian National Armed Forces and pro-U.S forces that were opposed to Sukarno’s non-aligned policies, a charge that he himself denied.

Biography Mochtar Lubis was born on 7 March 1922 in Sungai Penuh, Kerinci Regency, on Sumatra, to Raja Pandapotan Lubis, a high-ranking civil servant, and his wife. He was the sixth child of twelve.

As a child, he wrote children's stories which were published in Sinar Deli, a Medan-based newspaper.

After graduating from high school, he worked as a teacher in Nias, North Sumatra. However, after a year he left for Batavia, where he worked at a bank. When World War II broke out and the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942, Lubis began working for the Japanese, translating international news for the Japanese army. In 1955, while he was editor there, he hosted the African American author Richard Wright during his three weeks in Indonesia to attend the Bandung Conference. Indonesia Raya published several articles related to Wright during April and May 1955.

On 4 February 1975, he was arrested in relation to the 1974 riots during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka;

After a long struggle against Alzheimer's disease he died in on 2 July 2004 at age 82. He was buried next to his wife in Jeruk Purut Cemetery. His funeral was attended by hundreds, including journalists and writers Rosihan Anwar and .

Lubis's novel Harimau! Harimau! was named Best Book by Yayasan Buku Utama, a part of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, in 1975, and received an award from Yayasan Jaya Raya (parent organization of the publisher ) in 1979.

Works

Novels

Short story collections