Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (, 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian politician and engineer who served as the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999.
1960
In 1960, Habibie received an engineer's degree in Germany with the title Diplom-Ingenieur.
He remained in Germany as a research assistant under Hans Ebner at the Lehrstuhl und Institut für Leichtbau, RWTH Aachen to conduct research for his doctoral degree.
1962
In 1962, Habibie returned to Indonesia for three months on sick leave.
During this time, he was reacquainted with Hasri Ainun, the daughter of R. Mohamad Besari.
Habibie had known Hasri Ainun in childhood, junior high school and in senior high school at SMA Kristen Dago (Dago Christian Senior High School), Bandung.
The two married on 12 May 1962, returning to Germany shortly afterwards.
Habibie and his wife settled in Aachen for a short period before moving to Oberforstbach.
1963
In May 1963 they had a son, Ilham Akbar Habibie.
Habibie later found employment with the railway stock firm Waggonfabrik Talbot, where he became an advisor in designing train wagons.
Due to his work with Makosh, the head of train construction offered his position to Habibie upon retirement three years later, but Habibie refused the position.
1965
In 1965, Habibie delivered his dissertation in aerospace engineering and received the grade of "very good," giving him the title Doktoringenieur (Dr.-Ing.).
The same year, he accepted Hans Ebner's offer to continue his research on Thermoelastisitas and work toward his habilitation, but he declined the offer to join RWTH as a professor.
His thesis about light construction for supersonic or hypersonic states also attracted offers of employment from companies such as Boeing and Airbus, which Habibie again declined.
Habibie did accept a position with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in Hamburg.
There, he developed theories on thermodynamics, construction, and aerodynamics known as the Habibie Factor (thermodynamics), Habibie Theorem (construction), and Habibie Method (aerodynamics), respectively.
He worked for Messerschmitt on the development of the Airbus A-300B aircraft.
1974
In 1974, he was promoted to vice president of the company.
In 1974, Suharto recruited Habibie to return to Indonesia as part of his drive to industrialize and develop the country.
Habibie initially served as a special assistant to Ibnu Sutowo, chief executive officer of the state oil company Pertamina and Chair of Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi, BPPT).
1978
In 1978, he was appointed as State Minister of Research and Technology (Menteri Negara Riset dan Teknologi, Menristek).
He continued to play an important role in IPTN other "strategic" industries in this post.
1980
By the 1980s, IPTN had grown considerably, specializing in the manufacture of helicopters and small passenger planes.
Under Habibie's leadership, IPTN became a manufacturer of aircraft including Puma helicopters and CASA planes.
1985
Two years later, Habibie was made CEO of the new state-owned enterprise Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio (IPTN; Nurtanio Aircraft Industry), which in 1985 changed its name to Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (Nusantara Aircraft Industry; also abbreviated as IPTN) and is known as Indonesian Aerospace (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia) since 2000).
1995
It pioneered a small passenger airplane, the N-250 Gatotkaca, in 1995, but the project was a commercial failure.
1998
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.
Originating from Sulawesi with Gorontalese-Javanese ancestry, his presidency was seen as a landmark and transition to the Reform era.
Upon becoming president, he liberalized Indonesia's press and political party laws; ended Indonesian occupation of East Timor, which led to that country's independence; 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 each the shortest in Indonesian history.
Before entering government, Habibie contributed to the making of Indonesia's first domestic airplane, the IPTN N-250.
As a result, he was granted the title "Father of Technology."
Habibie was a native of Parepare, in South Sulawesi.
His parents, Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie, an agriculturist from ethnic 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.
2018
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.
Habibie went to Delft, the Netherlands, to study aviation and aerospace at the Technische Hogeschool Delft (Delft University of Technology), but for political reasons (the West New Guinea dispute between the Netherlands and Indonesia), he had to continue his study at the Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen University) in Aachen, Germany.
