Professor Teuku Jacob - December 6, 1929 - October 17, 2007

Anyone who has been following the story of Liang Bua 1, the enigmatic fossil remains for what may turn out to be a new species of human, Homo floresiensis, will immediately be familiar with the name of Professor Teuku Jacob, especially in the context of the controversy surrounding damage which was allegedly done to some of the fossil material that was temporarily in his care - he was also one of the leading proponents of the theory that the remains were merely those of a diseased modern human, a debate that has yet to be fully resolved. I have mentioned him elsewhere on this blog, in an admittedly less than favourable light regarding the time during which the LB1 fossils were in his care, whilst Professor Mike Morewood, whose team made the initial discoveries, had plenty to say, along with many others, to the world's press at the time.

We now have the sad news that Professor Jacob, formerly of the University of Gajah Mada, in Jakarta, has this past month passed away, succumbing to an illness which affected his liver, and on that note this blog sends its sincere condolences to his friends and family. And rather than focus on some of the recent controversies, it's time to take a quick look at the rest of his life, as there is no doubt that not only was he the most senior palaeoanthropologist in Indonesia, but he was partly responsible for greatly raising the profile of the discipline there, whilst before his academic career took off, he played an active role in helping Indonesia gain independence from the Dutch. I found the following obituary at Planet Mole - Indonesia in Focus...

"Indonesian paleontologist Teuku Jacob, who died Wednesday from a liver disease, was known for his firm scientific judgments, including his opinion on the “Hobbit” fossils found on an island in East Nusa Tenggara province.

A public funeral ceremony was held at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Thursday before Jacob’s body was moved to its final resting place in the university’s cemetery. Hundreds of academics, administrative staff, students, former rectors, and colleagues, friends and relatives of Jacob attended the ceremony that ended with a military salute for the recipient of the 2002 Bintang Mahaputra Nararia State Award.

Born in Peureulak, Aceh, on Dec. 6, 1929, Jacob passed away Wednesday evening at Dr. Sardjito Hospital after being treated there since Oct. 4 for liver problems he had been suffering for years.

He is survived by his wife, Nuraini Jacob, and daughter, Nila Nurilani Jacob.

“We remember him as a true nationalist as shown by his opinion regarding the discovery of the Liang Bua skeleton in Flores,” Suryo Guritno, chairman of the university’s Assembly of Lecturers (MGB), said in his remarks at the ceremony.

Jacob made headlines in 2004 when he expressed his opposition to Australian scientists’ claims the Liang Bua skeleton belonged to a new species and should thus be renamed Homo floresiensis.

Jacob, on the contrary, insisted the skeleton was not a new species but simply a fossil of an ordinary modern human being.

“It is not a new species. It is a sub-species of Homo sapiens classified under the Austrolomelanesid race. If it’s not a new species, why should it be given a new name?” Jacob had told a press conference in 2004.

“So, if they (the Australian scientists) say the skeleton was the ancestor of the Indonesian people, forget it,” he added.

During his service at the university, Jacob was acknowledged as a dedicated scientist. Even after he officially retired, he often worked in the university’s bioanthropology and paleoanthropology laboratory.

“He also attended meetings both at national and international levels,” said Suryo Guritno, adding that the July 2007 Paleoanthropology International Seminar was the last such event he had attended.

“Indonesia in general, and the UGM in particular, has really lost one of its best sons,” Guritno said.

Jacob started his career at UGM in 1953 as an anatomy student assistant in the university’s School of Medicine and then as an anthropology assistant. He graduated from the school in 1956.
He was the School of Medicine’s secretary from 1973 t0 1975, dean of the school from 1975 to 1979 and rector of UGM from 1981 to 1986. He was also a member of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) from 1982 to 1987.

He was declared an Honorary Citizen of The Sunshine City-Mayor of Tucson (1958) and included in the International Biographical Directory of Southeast Asian Specialists (1969), International Directory of Anthropologists (1975), Marquis Who’s Who in the World (1980-1998), as well as being awarded the Paul Broca-CNRS Medal (1980), gold medal from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine (1993) and the Hamengkubuwono IX Award (1997).

A regular columnist for a local newspaper here, Jacob was also involved in important projects and work. Among them include the finding, identification and publication of human fossils from Indonesia and the establishment of a numbering system for human fossils.

Other projects included the rescue and exploration of human and animal fossils, the development of a counter-theory on prehistoric cannibalism and a study of human taxonomy. He was also a consultant for the world heritage Sangiran site."

A. Junaidi and Sri Wahyuni

Whilst sciencemag.org had this to say...

As Indonesia's "king of paleoanthropology," Teuku Jacob ruled over a vital collection of hominid fossils. He was a formidable skeptic of the 1-meter-tall "hobbit" remains from the Indonesian island of Flores, arguing that they instead represented a diseased modern human. On 17 October, at the age of 77, the professor emeritus and former rector of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta died of liver problems.

Jacob studied fossil hominids under famed paleontologist G. H. R. von Koenigswald, then found and was curator of many important specimens, particularly of Homo erectus. He was a key figure in the Indonesian independence movement, making nationalist radio broadcasts after World War II during the country's 4-year fight for independence from the Dutch.

"He built the field up--he was paleoanthropology in Indonesia for quite a while," says anthropologist Russell Tuttle of the University of Chicago in Illinois, noting that Jacob trained Indonesians to study the fossils found in their country. "It was an indigenous effort."

No matter how heated debates can become, I'm sure that the vast majority of his recent and well-publicised opponents would nevertheless recognise the great contribution Professor Jacob made to palaeoanthropology in his native land, and although he had since retired, it seems his presence will be greatly missed by those with whom he worked.

Professor Jacob is featured in the following video, 'The Mystery of the Human Hobbit'...



(via palanthsci)