Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya

Mangun Priest

Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya was born on May 6, 1929 at Ambarawa – Central Java as the eldest son of 12 children of Yulianus Sumadi and Serafin Kamdaniyah. He was more recognized as Priest Mangun. He is known as an architect, writer, and priest. On September 8, 1959 he was consecrated to be a priest by Mgr. Soegijapranata, SJ, the bishop of Semarang. On his life, he had many good relationships with other religious figures.

During his life, he has created many excellent works. He famous for his writings or novels such as Burung-Burung Manyar, Ikan-ikan Hiu, Ido, Homa, Roro Mendut; for his works on science, culture, and politics; also for his monumental humanist tasks such as building in poverty-stricken areas such as in the area of Kali Code. Magun Priest also established and ran the elementary school Yayasan Edukasi Dasar at Kuwera Street, Mrican Yogyakarta. In architecture, he is known as the father of Indonesian Modern Architecture.

In 1980, Priest Mangun moved to the poverty area Kali Code. He really realized and sympathized with how the farmers in Kedung Ombo were forcedly removed due to the government-planned Dam Building. During his life, he proclaimed a lot of excellent ideas. For example, in education, subjects in the school were not necessarily in big numbers but they emphasized critical studies, exploration, and innovation. The students are prepared to explore their knowledge and they feel free to ask the teacher and to be creative.

He died on February 10, 1999, after presenting a paper, “Meningkatkan Buku dalam Upaya Membentuk Masyarakat Baru Indonesia,” at a seminar in the Le Meridien, Hotel. He died because of a heart attack. Maybe his body will not be with us anymore, but I believe his spirit will never leave us. He will pray for us and give us the spirit to do many excellent works in our lives.

Mangun Priest was important for me because he makes me conscious that maybe life isn’t easy, but in all the things that we need to do, we need to do the best that we can when we still have chance in this world. We should always help other people when they need our help, be kind to our neighbour, study when we have chance, because there are no words “not important” for the things that we have studied.