Tengku Amir Hamzah was an Indonesian poet and National Hero of Indonesia. Born into a Malay aristocratic family in the Sultanate of Langkat in North Sumatra, he was educated in both Sumatra and Java. Amir wrote 50 poems, 18 pieces of lyrical prose, and numerous other works, including several translations. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945, he served as the government’s representative in Langkat. The following year he was killed in a socialist revolution led by the Communist Party of Indonesia and buried in a mass grave.
About Amir Hamzah in brief
Tengku Amir Hamzah was an Indonesian poet and National Hero of Indonesia. Born into a Malay aristocratic family in the Sultanate of Langkat in North Sumatra, he was educated in both Sumatra and Java. Amir wrote 50 poems, 18 pieces of lyrical prose, and numerous other works, including several translations. In 1932 he co-founded the literary magazine Poedjangga Baroe. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945, he served as the government’s representative in Langkat. The following year he was killed in a socialist revolution led by the Communist Party of Indonesia and buried in a mass grave. Most of his poems were published in two collections, Nyanyi Sunyi and Buah Rindu. His earlier works deal with a sense of longing and both erotic and idealised love, whereas his later works have a deeper religious meaning. Poems by Amir deal with the themes of love and religion and his poetry often reflects a deep inner conflict. His diction, using both Malay and Javanese words and expanding on traditional structures, was influenced by the need for rhythm and metre, as well as symbolism related to particular terms. It is known that Amir was schooled in Islamic principles such as Qu’ran reading, fiqh, and tawhid, and studied at the Azizi Mosque in Tanjung Pura from a young age. He remained a devout Muslim throughout his life. Sources disagree on the period in which he completed his formal studies.
Several sources, including the Indonesian government’s Language Centre, state that he started school in 1916, while the biographer M. Lah Husny puts the future poet’s first year of formal schooling as 1918. Amir later took the name of his grandfather, TeungkuHamzah, as a second name; thus, hewas referred to as Amir HamZah. Though a child of nobility, he would often associate with non-nobles. Amir was nicknamed ‘older brother’ by his classmates as he was much taller than them. Amir made the three-day trip to Java alone aboard the Plancus plancus boat on his way to Batavia to complete his studies. Amir became involved with the nationalist movement and fell in love with a schoolmate, Ilik Sundari. The two remained close, only separating in 1937 when Amir was recalled to Sumatra to marry the sultan’s daughter and take on responsibilities of the court. In 1924 or 1925, Amir graduated from the school in LangKat and moved to Medan to study at the Meer Uitgebreid Lagerwijs Oitbreid Oitteid. After completing his studies some two years later, he entered a formal relationship with his cousin, Aja Bun Bun Bun. As his parents permitted him to finish his studies, Amir moved to Java, where he completed the last year of junior high school. Amir has been called the only international-class Indonesian poet from before the Indonesian National Revolution.
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This page is based on the article Amir Hamzah published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
