1. Ismail Marzuki was an Indonesian composer, songwriter and musician who wrote around 202 to 240 songs between 1931 and 1958, including numerous popular patriotic songs.
15 Facts About Ismail Marzuki
1. 2.
In 1968, he was honoured with the creation of the well-known Taman Ismail Marzuki which is a cultural centre in Menteng in central Jakarta.
3.
From a young age Ismail Marzuki enjoyed music, listening to songs repeatedly on the family's gramophone and learning to play the rebana, ukulele, and guitar.
4.
Ismail Marzuki studied at an elementary school for Native Indonesians, the HIS in Menteng; he later attended the Dutch-language middle school MULO on Mendjangan Street in Jakarta.
5.
Ismail Marzuki started his music career by joining the Lief Java Orchestra by the mid 1930s.
6.
Ismail Marzuki died at 14:00 on 25 May 1958 in his house in Tanah Abang, Jakarta.
7.
Ismail Marzuki's anthems are full of patriotism and love for Indonesia, with a spirit of unity and harmony.
8.
Ismail Marzuki married Eulis Zuraidah, a Sundanese keroncong singer and orchestra member from Bandung, in 1940.
9.
Ismail Marzuki's wife became the inspiration of his Sundanese song "Panon Hideung", which is the Sundanese version of Dark Eyes.
10.
Ismail Marzuki re-arranged the song in new lyrics but with the same title in Sundanese.
11.
Ismail Marzuki's collection included guitars, mandolins, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, accordions, and a piano.
12.
Ismail Marzuki was known for being fiercely nationalistic, once selling gado-gado with his wife instead of cooperating with the Dutch-Allied NICA during the Indonesian National Revolution.
13.
On 16 August 1961 Ismail Marzuki received the first Wijaya Kusuma award from President Sukarno.
14.
Ismail Marzuki was honoured posthumously in 1968 with the opening of Taman Ismail Marzuki, a cultural centre and park in central Jakarta.
15.
Ismail Marzuki was recognized as a National Hero of Indonesia in November 2004 by declaration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.