The event was moderated directly by the Institute Secretary of the ITB, Prof. Dr. Ing. Ir. Widjaja Martokusumo. “The choice of the Pangeran Diponegoro story also coincided on the day of his birth, in which on 11 November 1785,” he said.

Prof. Peter Carey opened the Studium Generale with his experience researching Indonesian history, titled “The Challenge of Writing History in Indonesia: A Personal Reflection on 46 Years Researching Indonesian History”. He got to know Indonesia since studying at Cornell University after previously studying a lot of European history at Oxford University.

There were so many impacts that colonialism had on the land of Java, starting from the culture of dress, interior, entertaining guests with wine, to the military system. ”Historians not only learn from books but also from paintings and soldiers in ancient times were also trained to be able to draw,” said Prof. Peter Carey.

Starting his journey in Indonesia in the 1970s, Prof. Peter Carey lives on Jl. Tanah Abang I. Every single day, he searches and collects various archives from the Archives Building (ANRI) where located on Jl. Gajahmada for 18 months. “Pangeran Diponegoro made his own autobiography, dictated, and was written by a clerk of 1,152 pages using pegon writing which was later known as Babad Diponegoro as well as the first autobiography in Indonesia,” said the professor who graduated from Oxford University.

In the question and answer session, Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D., as the Chancellor of ITB asked several questions about Indonesian stereotypes and whether there is still a Diponegoro spirit in Indonesians.

Prof. Peter Carey answered that the stereotype of the Indonesian people, especially the Javanese who are known to be gentle, is actually not entirely true and this was fabricated by the Dutch, the proof is that Prince Dipenogoro struggled for five years of guerrilla fighting in and out of the forest which meant that there was a very hard struggle against the colonizers and Diponegoro's fighting spirit continues to flow to Indonesians, for example, Kartini's older brother, Sosrokartono, who speaks 27 languages.

“I believe every nation has advantages when it understands their own history. This includes Indonesia which becomes understands nature by the times of Aceh Tsunami when there is a small island which has 87 thousand inhabitants but only seven people died within 15 minutes from the epicenter,” continued Prof. Peter Carey.

Reporter : Ahyar (Metallurgical Engineering, 2018)

Translator : Evita Sonny (Management, 2017)