Achdiat Karta Mihardja

Who was Achdiat Karta Mihardja?

Achdiat Karta Mihardja was an Indonesian author, novelist and playwright. He is best known for his novel, Atheis, which was published in 1949. Atheis is considered one of Indonesia's most important literary works following World War II.

Mihardja was born on March 6, 1911, in Garut, West Java. His father, a bank manager, had a collection of books which Mihardja credited with sparking his interest in literature. Mihardja worked as a journalist early in his career. In 1949, he published his most important work, Atheist, which centered on a Muslim man from West Java, Hasan, and his relationship with his friends, who had been influenced by foreign ideas, such as Marxism. The book is considered as one of Indonesia's most important modern literary works. Atheist was later adapted into a 1974 film, which was directed by Sjumandjaja and co-starred Christine Hakim and Deddy Sutomo. Mihardja was a recipient on Indonesia's national literary award in 1956 for his work.

Mihardja helped to found Lekra, an Indonesian writers' organization tied to the Communist Party of Indonesia, in 1950. Though rumors persisted, he denied that he was an atheist. Mihardja was a member of the Socialist Party of Indonesia, which was banned in 1960 by his friend, President Sukarno. He would later speak about his relationship with Sukarno, "We were best friends but not in terms of ideology...Worse, out of the blue he banned my party."