Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie

Prof. Dr. Ing Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie
Presiden Indonesia ke-3
Masa jabatan 21 Mei 1998 – 20 Oktober 1999
Wakil Presiden	Tidak ada
Pendahulu	Soeharto
Pengganti	Abdurrahman Wahid
Wakil Presiden Indonesia ke-7
Masa jabatan 1998 – 1998
Pendahulu	Try Sutrisno
Pengganti	Megawati Sukarnoputri (pada 1999)
Lahir	25 Juni 1936 (umur 72) Pare-Pare, Sulawesi Selatan
Partai politik	Golkar
Suami/Istri	Ainun Habibie
Agama	Islam

Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie (lahir di Pare-Pare, Sulawesi Selatan, 25 Juni 1936; umur 72 tahun) adalah Presiden Republik Indonesia yang ketiga. Ia menggantikan Soeharto yang mengundurkan diri dari jabatan presiden pada tanggal 21 Mei 1998. Jabatannya digantikan oleh Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) yang terpilih pada 20 Oktober 1999 oleh suara MPR dari hasil Pemilu 1999. Dengan 373 suara MPR, Gus Dur mengalahkan calon presiden Megawati Soekarnoputri yang memperoleh 313 suara.

Habibie merupakan anak keempat dari delapan bersaudara, pasangan Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie dan RA. Tuti Marini Puspowardojo. Habibie yang menikah dengan Hasri Ainun Habibie pada tanggal 12 Mei 1962 ini dikaruniai dua orang putra yaitu Ilham Akbar dan Thareq Kemal.^[1]

Baik Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie maupun R.A.Tuti Marini Puspowardojo bukan kelahiran Sulawesi Selatan. Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie lahir pada tanggal 17 Agustus 1908 di Gorontalo dan R.A.Tuti Marini Puspowardojo lahir di Yogyakarta 10 November 1911. Ibunya anak seorang spesialis mata di Yogya, ayahnya bernama Puspowardjojo bertugas sebagai pemilik sekolah. Ia bersaudara tujuh orang.^[2]

Beliau belajar teknik mesin di Institut Teknologi Bandung tahun 1954. Pada 1955-1965 dia melanjutkan studi teknik penerbangan, spesialisasi konstruksi pesawat terbang, di RWTH Aachen, Jerman Barat, menerima gelar diplom ingineur pada 1960 dan gelar doktor ingineur pada 1965 dengan predikat summa cum laude. Dia kemudian bekerja di Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm di Hamburg, hingga mencapai puncak karir sebagai wakil presiden bidang teknologi. Pada 1973 kembali ke Indonesia atas permintaan mantan presiden Suharto.

from : id.wikipedia.org

Nelson Mandela

 The Nobel Peace Prize 1993                         

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela’s campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela’s reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation’s National Chairperson.

from : nobleprize.org