Selo Soemardjan also spelled as Selo Sumarjan or Selo Sumardjan. He was well known as a senior academic in sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 at Universitas Indonesia, and is known as the Pioneer of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n Social Sciences. He was awarded with the title Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo, a knighthood from Yogyakarta Sultanate

Yogyakarta Sultanate

Yogyakarta Sultanate is a Javanese monarchy in the province of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.-History:...

.

Selo Soemardjan obtained his PhD at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. After his return from the US in 1959, he held a range of academic posts, although the majority of his time was spent at UI and the Social Sciences Foundation (Yayasan Ilmu-ilmu Sosial — YIIS) which he co-founded and headed for three decades.

Background and education

He began his career as a government bureaucrat in Java, serving as a district head in a rural area outside Yogyakarta. The term Selo was actually not his name, but a title attributed to Soemardjan's occupation as scribe/secretary to the Yogyakarta government, when he worked as regent of Kulonprogo. However, the term became so embedded with his real name Soemardjan, hence Selo Soemardjan became his proper name.

During the revolutionary period 1945-1950, he was secretary to Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, a major figure in the struggle for independence. In 1948, an American student named George McTurnan Kahin

George McTurnan Kahin

George McTurnan KahinSometimes referred to as George Kahin or George McT. Kahin. Some, but fewer, sources may also cite him as George M. Kahin. was an American historian and political scientist. He was one of the leading experts on Southeast Asia and a critic of United States involvement in the...

 was doing research in Yogyakarta. Kahin asked Minister of Education Ali Sastroamidjojo to suggest a suitable candidate as a research assistant. Sastroamidjojo suggested Selo Soemardjan, who was a civil servant, secretary to Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX.

The situation became even more unstable. Social change that took place during Indonesia's struggle for independence compelled Soemardjan to study sociology. Kahin helped him to get the documents needed to study at Cornell, with sponsorship from the Ford Foundation, and, in February 1956, he went to Cornell, where he studied all the European theories of sociology. In 1959, Soemardjan returned to Yogyakarta to do the research on social change for his PhD, and after six months, he went back to Cornell to complete the thesis and sit for exams.

• HIS, Yogyakarta (1921–1928)
• MULO, Yogyakarta (1928–1931)
• MOSVIA, Magelang (1931–1934)
• Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, AS (PhD 1959)

Career and Works

Upon his graduation from Cornell, Mohammad Sadli

Mohammad Sadli

Mohamad Sadli was a leading Indonesian policy-maker and economist.Sadli, as he was widely known as, was born in Sumedang, West Java. He first studied in the Hollandsch-Inlandsche School in Sumedang and Subang, and later moved to the Hogere Burger School in Semarang in Central Java...

 of Faculty of Economics in Universitas Indonesia asked him to teach sociology in his department. As the only teacher in the department without a background in economics, he taught a subject that was titled "Non-economic Factors in Economic Development."

Later on, Soemardjan established the Faculty of Social Sciences in Universitas Indonesia and held the post of Dean for ten years. He was appointed as professor and later on as professor emeritus.

In 1968, after General Suharto officially replaced Sukarno

Sukarno

Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...

 as President, Sadli and his colleagues (often known as the Berkeley Mafia

Berkeley Mafia

The Berkeley Mafia was term given to a group of U.S.-educated Indonesian economists whose efforts brought Indonesia back from dire economic conditions and the brink of famine in the mid-1960s. They were appointed in the early stages of the 'New Order' administration. Almost three decades of...

) became the architects of Indonesia's economic policy. Selo Soemardjan was involved in the analysis of non-economic factors.

As a professor, Soemardjan was able to explain sociology theory using layman's term, citing everyday examples that are encountered particularly from his past experience as civil servant.

• Regent of Kulonprogo Regency and Staff of Yogyakarta Sultanate / Yogyakarta Provincial Government (1935–1949)
• Civilian Chief of Staff for Jakarta Raya (1949–1950)
• Head of Defence Staff Secretariat in Prime Minister's Cabinet (1950–1956)
• Secretary for State Supervisory Agency (1959–1961)
• Head of Department of State
• Secretary for the State Auditing Board
• Secretary for Minister of State of Economics, Finance, and Industry (1966–1973)
• Secretary for Indonesian Vice President Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (1973–1978)
• Assistant for Indonesian Vice President in Social Welfare (1978–1983)
• Advisor for Indonesian President (1983–2003)
• Lecturer in Faculty of Law Universitas Indonesia
• Founder of Faculty of Social Sciences in Universitas Indonesia
• Professor in Faculty of Economics Universitas Indonesia
• Professor Emeritus in Universitas Indonesia

Publications

• Social Changes in Yogyakarta (1962)
• Gerakan 10 Mei 1963 di Sukabumi (1963)
• Desentralisasi Pemerintahan
• Tokoh sosiologi yang terkenal

Award and Honors

• Bintang Mahaputra Utama (17 Agustus 1994)
• Gelar ilmuwan utama sosiologi (30 Agustus 1994)
• Anugerah Hamengkubuwono
  Hamengkubuwono
  Hamengkubuwono is the current ruling royal house of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in Yogyakarta Special Region of Indonesia...
  
   (HB) IX from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) (19 Januari 2002)

Personal life

Selo Soemardjan is married to R.R. Soeleki Brotoatmodjo, a midwife and a car-racer. They have six children, all of them living in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, fifteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

He died in 2003 due to heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 at 88 year old. He is buried in Kuncen Cemetery, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta (city)

Yogyakarta is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to...

.

After his passing, Selo Soemardjan Research Center was established in 2004.