Iskandar, Nur Sutan

Iskandar, Nur Sutan 

(has also written under the feminine pseudonym Nursinah Iskandar). Born Nov. 3, 1893, in Sungaibatung. Indonesian writer of Minangkabau nationality. Since 1919 he has worked at the Balai Pustaka publishing house. He has taught at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.

In his novels What Can You Do If You’re a Woman (1922), Wrong Choice (1928), It’s the Parents’Fault (1932), and Hell on Earth (1937), Iskandar criticizes old customs and traditions. The novel The King’s Knight (1934) was one of the first Indonesian historical novels. Among his writings since the proclamation of Indonesian independence in 1945, the social novel Djangir Bali and the historical novel The Pearl (both 1946) are of the greatest interest.

Iskandar is the author of a number of philological works and has translated into the Indonesian language works by Dumas père, Molière, A. Conan Doyle, and H. Sienkiewicz.

WORKS

Tjobaan. Jakarta, 1955.
Katak hendakdjadi lembu. Jakarta, 1958.
Pengalaman masa ketjil. Jakarta, 1960.
Tjinta tanah air. Jakarta, 1963.

REFERENCES

Sikorskii, V. V. Indoneziiskaia literatura. Moscow, 1965.
Teeuw, A. Modern Indonesian Literature. The Hague, 1967.

V. V. SIKORSKII