Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 1950s
Born	(1925-02-06)6 February 1925 Blora, Dutch East Indies
Died	30 April 2006(2006-04-30) (aged 81) Jakarta, Indonesia
Occupation	Novelist, Essayist
Nationality	Indonesia
Citizenship	Indonesian
Notable works	Buru Quartet
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Pramoedya Ananta Toer (6 February 1925 – 30 April 2006) was an Indonesian writer. He wrote novels, short stories, essays, and histories of Indonesia and its people. His writing includes much personal and national history. The Dutch Government put him in prison him from 1947 to 1949. Later, the Suharto government sent him to a prison island from 1965 to 1979.

Colonial and later authoritarian governments did not approve of Pramoedya's writings. They often censored his writing in Indonesia even though he was well known outside his home country. The Dutch imprisoned him from 1947 to 1949 during the War of Independence. During the coup when Suharto gained power, Pramoedya was involved in political fighting. Suharto put him in prison from 1969 to 1979 on the Maluku island called Buru. Suharto called Pramoedya a Communist. Suharto thought Pramoedya was still loyal to the Sukarno government even though Pramoedya had struggled with Sukarno.

He created his most famous work, the Buru Quartet, on the prison island. The prison did not allow him to have writing materials, so he told the story aloud to other prisoners. Then it was written down and smuggled out.

Pramoedya was against some policies of Indonesia's first President, Sukarno, and against the New Order regime of Suharto. Often, he did not make direct political criticisms. His writing was subtle. He was outspoken against colonialism, racism and the corruption of the Indonesian Government. During the many years he suffered in prison and house arrest, human rights advocates fought for his freedom of expression.