Obituaries - April 30, 1996

Siti Hartinah Suharto, 72, first lady of Indonesia for nearly three decades. Known as “Tien,” she was considered a traditional Muslim housewife with little political inclination. She did take a strong stand on social issues, however, including opposition to polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife. Suharto also established a government-funded amusement park near Jakarta called “Indonesia in Miniature” with boat rides, cable cars and museums demonstrating the traditions and cultures of different parts of her country. She married Suharto, a former army general who has been president of Indonesia since 1968, in an arranged marriage in 1947. She had worked with him in the struggle for independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945. On Sunday in Jakarta of a heart attack.