By R. Prajatna Koesoemadinata

I met Beni Nurtjahja Wahju for the first time in 1955 when we registered as students at the Universiteit Indonesie Faculteit voor Wiskunde and Natuurwetenschappen for the course majoring in Geology and Mineralogy or known as ‘richting i”. I do not remember exactly when and where we met, but it must have been in the shacks of temporary buildings in the back-side of the building complex at Jl. Ganesha 10, known as the Technische Faculteit, Universiteit voor Indonesie. We were looking for announcement where lectures will begin. There were only a few students taking the geology course at the time, about 10 persons, among which was a girl named Karmijuni Pratignyo from Jogyakarta, a rarity at that time for a female to study geology.  Although later there about 20 more employee students assigned by the Geological Survey of Indonesia to take courses at the Department of Geology

We are getting more acquainted when we took laboratory classes in physics, chemistry and especially biology, as the atmosphere were more relax, rather than during lectures which were formally delivered and attendance is rigid.

When I met Beni, I was 19 years old, but Beni was about 2 years older. In the beginning our relationship was rather stiff, as Beni and I came from different backgrounds. Beni’s father was a high official in the government, while my father was a teacher with yearning for research in musicology and wrote song books for school children. Our goals in studying geology were also different. Benny’s interest in geology is mainly from mineral exploration point of view, while my interest in geology is purely as a science. Therefore, Beni called me with affection “the scientist”. I cherished this nickname he gave me, as that is what I always wanted to be, a scientist. He also accepted me as resource person for geological knowledge.

Soon we were getting to know each other better, especially since both of us joined the same extra campus student club PMB (Perhimpunan Mahasiswa Bandung).  In the beginning to me Benny appeared to be “bossy”, but years later I realized that this was his leadership character. Although ‘bossy’ Benny was actually very jovial, easy going and getting along very well among his fellow students. We were getting to know Beni better during geological fieldtrips.  I believed that the professors liked him a lot, including the stiff Prof. Klompe, head of the Geology Department; this was especially the case with Prof. McDivitt, a Canadian professor who later replaced Prof Klompe as head of the Department.

My student days with Beni ended 1958, when I received my Sarjana Muda degree and left Bandung for my further studied in Canada, as all the Dutch professors were expelled from Indonesia. I heard that Benny also finally finished his sarjana degree and went to work as a geologist for the Geological Survey of Indonesia. He was assigned to Halmahera for an asbestos project, and afterward he was sent to US Geological Survey in Washington where he met his lovely wife Soffie. I had the opportunity to meet Beni again after his return to Bandung at the Geological Survey of Indonesia where he was employed. He proudly showed me the results of his training with the US Geological Survey: his name was printed in one of the USGS geological map.

After he returned to Bandung he still contributed to the Geology Department of ITB. He was one of the promoters for establishing the Karangsambung Field Camp in Central Java. He also returned to Bandung at the right time, as a multinational company The International Nickel Company (PT Inco Indonesia) was hiring temporary geologists at the Geological Survey of Indonesia. Beni was immediately accepted, and soon his leadership nature was recognized. Later he left the Geological Survey of Indonesia, and before too long he became the Exploration Manager of PT Inco, South Sulawesi. Through his leadership PT Inco successfully established nickel mines in Indonesia for the first time.

His association with his alma mater, now known as ITB, also continued to flourish. He managed to get Prof. Rubini Soeria Atmadja, a senior during his student days, and his students to participate in the extensive exploration campaign for nickel in South Sulawesi. Unfortunately I am more interested in teaching petroleum geology and our paths parted, I rarely met Benny again. In the 90’s, however, Benny visited his alma mater, at the time known as the Geological Engineering Department of ITB to give his contribution in establishing the Klompe Library. His legacy with ITB, Geological Survey of Indonesia, and PT Inco is firmly established and his leadership well remembered, especially among the older generation of geologists.

 

Farewell, Beni my friend, you have earned your place in the history of geologists of Indonesia.

Bandung, 10 April 2012