B. J. Habibie

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice president in March 1998, he succeeded Suharto who resigned after 32 years in office. His presidency was seen as a landmark and transition to the Reformation era. Upon becoming president, he liberalized Indonesia's press and political party laws, and held an early democratic election three years sooner than scheduled, which resulted in the end of his presidency. His 517-day presidency and 71-day vice presidency were the shortest in the country's history. He also contributed to the making of Indonesia's first domestic airplane. As a result, he was granted the title "Father of Technology." Early life Habibie was a native of Parepare, in South Sulawesi. He was of ethnic Bugis-Gorontalese-Javanese descent from Kabila in Gorontalo and Yogyakarta. His parents, Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie, an agriculturist of Bugis-Gorontalese descent, and R. A. Tuti Marini Puspowardojo, a Javanese noblewoman from Yogyakarta, met while studying in Bogor. Habibie's paternal family comes from Kabila, just to the east of the town of Gorontalo in northern Sulawesi. He was the fourth of eight children. Habibie's father died when he was 14 years old. In 2018, the Gorontalo provincial government agreed to support the construction of the B.J. Habibie's Monument in front of the main gate of Djalaluddin Airport in Gorontalo Regency. In addition, it was proposed that State University of Gorontalo be renamed in honour of Habibie although, in the end, the suggestion was not adopted. Education