Sitor Situmorang's Coffin Arrives in North Sumatra

Kualanamu, N Sumatra (Antara) - North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho received the coffin of Sitor Situmorang, noted Indonesian man of letters, which arrived at Kualanamu International Airport here on Wednesday evening. Chief of the Bukit Barisan Regional Military Command Maj Gen. Winston Pardamean and some other important figures of North Sumatra Province were also seen welcoming the coffin of this prolific poet. Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho said Sitor Situmorang was an outstanding figure that Indonesians should be proud of because he had made his country well known in the world through his literary works. RE Nainggolan, former secretary of the North Sumatra Provincial Government, further said that this noted poet also had a great love of North Sumatra as he described in his works. "Because of the great love, Sitor Situmorang had even made a will that he was buried in his village if he died," he said. Situmorang passed away at the age of 91 at his house in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on December 21,2014. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) then proposed that the government repatriate his body. Born in Harianboho, North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, on October 2, 1923, Sitor Situmorang was not only known widely as an influential man of letters but also a loyalist of President Soekarno. This noted writer had also led the Indonesian National Party's Institute of National Culture (1959-1969), he said. (*) Reported by Irwan Arfa