Megawati Sukarnoputri

Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (born January 23, 1947), was President of Indonesia from July 2001 to October 20, 2004. She was defeated for re-election in the 2004 Indonesian presidential election on September 20.

Early life

Megawati was born in Yogyakarta, the second child and eldest daughter of Sukarno, then the president of Indonesia, which had declared its independence from the Netherlands in 1945. Her mother Fatmawati was one of Sukarno's nine wives. Megawati grew up in luxury in her father's Merdeka Palace.

Related Topics:
Yogyakarta - Sukarno - Netherlands - 1945 - Merdeka Palace

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Megawati went to Padjadjaran University in Bandung to study agriculture, but dropped out in 1967 to be with her father following his fall from power. Megawati was 19 when Sukarno was succeeded by a military government led by Suharto. Sukarno's family was ignored by the new government provided they stayed out of politics.

Related Topics:
Bandung - 1967 - Suharto

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In 1970, the year Sukarno died, Megawati went to the University of Indonesia to study psychology but dropped out after two years. Even her warmest admirers would not claim that Megawati is an intellectual, and she has little knowledge of the world outside Indonesia. She is a pious Muslim but also follows traditional Javanese beliefs and has great faith in astrology.

Related Topics:
1970 - University of Indonesia - Muslim - Javanese beliefs - Astrology

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Megawati's first husband, First Lieutenant Surindo Supjarso, was killed in a plane crash in Irian Jaya in 1970. In 1972, she married Hassan Gamal Ahmad Hasan, an Egyptian diplomat. The marriage was annulled shortly after. She married Taufik Kiemas, her present husband, in 1973. They have three children, M. Rizki Pramata, M. Pranada Prabowo and Puan Maharani, now in their 30s.

Related Topics:
Irian Jaya - 1970 - 1972 - Egyptian - Taufik Kiemas - 1973

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