M. C. Ricklefs

{{Infobox academic

| name = Merle Calvin Ricklefs

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1943|07|17}}

| birth_place = Fort Dodge, Iowa, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2019|12|29|1943|07|17}}

| death_place = Melbourne, Australia

| alma_mater = {{plainlist|

| awards = {{plainlist|

Member of the Order of Australia
Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Centenary Medal}}

| occupation = Historian

| thesis_title = Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi (1749-1792)

| thesis_url =

| thesis_year = 1973

| school_tradition =

| doctoral_advisor = O. W. Wolters

| academic_advisors =

| influences =

| era =

| discipline =

| sub_discipline =

| workplaces = {{plainlist|

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| main_interests = Indonesian history

| notable_works = A History of Modern Indonesia, ca. 1300 to the Present

| notable_ideas =

| influenced =

}}

Merle Calvin Ricklefs {{post-nominals|country=AUS|sep=|AM|FAHA}} (17 July 1943 – 29 December 2019) was an American-born Australian scholar of the history and current affairs of Indonesia.Anthony Reid, 'Merle Calvin Ricklefs, AM July 17, 1943 - December 29, 2019', [http://emeritus.anu.edu.au/newsletters/ Emeritus] (The Australian National University Emeritus Faculty e-magazine), 11 (8), September 2020.{{cite web |url=http://www.asiamap.ac.uk/collections/collection.php?ID=142&Browse=Country&Country=TMP |title=Southeast Asian Collection |access-date=2007-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060227112206/http://www.asiamap.ac.uk/collections/collection.php?ID=142 |archive-date=2006-02-27 }} Southeast Asian Collection held at University of Cambridge Cambridge University Library

Ricklefs was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on 17 July 1943{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=M.+C.+Ricklefs+Date+of+Birth:+Fort+Dodge,+Iowa,+July+17,+1943|title=M. C. Ricklefs Date of Birth: Fort Dodge, Iowa, July 17, 1943 - Google Search|website=Google.com}} and died on 29 December 2019, aged 76.'[https://www.monash.edu/vale/home/articles/vale-emeritus-professor-merle-ricklefs-am Vale Emeritus Professor Merle Ricklefs AM'], Monash University website, 9 January 2020. See also {{Cite web|url=https://republika.co.id/share/q39c0g385|title=Berpulangnya Utusan VOC ke Mataram Moderen: MC Ricklefs|date=December 29, 2019|website=Republika Online}}

Ricklefs received his Ph.D. with his dissertation titled "Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi (1749-1792)" from Cornell University in 1973, under the supervision of O. W. Wolters.{{Cite journal|last=van Bruinessen|first=Martin|date=2020|title=In Memoriam Merle Calvin Ricklefs: (17 July 1943–29 December 2019)|journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde|volume=176|issue=4|pages=459–468|doi=10.1163/22134379-17604017|jstor=26944933|s2cid=228895842|issn=0006-2294|doi-access=free}}{{Cite web|title=Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749-1792 - Cornell University Library Catalog|url=https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/2588977|access-date=2021-07-19|website=newcatalog.library.cornell.edu|language=en}} He held positions at the School of Oriental and African Studies, All Souls College, Monash University, the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. He retired from the professorship of Southeast Asian history at the National University of Singapore.{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/about/hismcr.htm |title=Department of History, NUS |access-date=2015-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117063544/http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/about/hismcr.htm |archive-date=2015-11-17 }} He was emeritus professor of history at both the Australian National University and Monash University.

Academic career

Ricklef's publications focused on the history of Mataram, Kartasura, Yogyakarta, Surakarta (locations in Central Java). He also regularly updated his history of Indonesia, A History of Modern Indonesia, ca. 1300 to the present.

Honours and awards

In 1989, Ricklefs was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.{{cite web|title=Merle Ricklefs|url=https://www.humanities.org.au/our-fellows/fellows/?find_contact_id=3278&ffc_page=5§ion_select=113&fellowType_select=0&bio_search&name_search&year_election&country_search=0&state_search=0|website=Australian Academy of the Humanities|access-date=2 March 2018}}

The Government of Australia awarded him in 2001 the Centenary Medal for "service to Australian society and the humanities in the study of Indonesia".{{Cite web|url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/medals/centenary_medal.cfm|title=It's An Honour has a new home|website=Itsanhonour.gov.au|access-date=December 30, 2019}}

In June 2017, Ricklefs was made a member of the Order of Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanities.org.au/2017/06/13/fellows-recognised-queens-birthday-2017-honours-list/|title=Fellows recognised in Queen's Birthday 2017 Honours List|website=Humanities.org.au|date=June 13, 2017|access-date=December 30, 2019}}

Civil and human rights activity

In the early 1980s Ricklefs became deeply involved in education for indigenous Australians, acting as the driving force behind and co-founding the Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines, the first bridging program for Aboriginal people in an Australian university. This aimed to prepare Aboriginal students, who suffered from great educational disadvantage, for university study. The scheme was a runaway success and by the time Ricklefs left Monash in 1993 it had been responsible for roughly doubling the number of Aboriginal university graduates.Davison, G . & Murphy, K. University Unlimited: The Monash Story (Melbourne 2012) 173-175

Ricklefs was also involved in the 1980s 'immigration debate' in Australia, which was sparked when his counterpart at the University of Melbourne, Geoffrey Blainey, argued that Australia should limit Asian immigration.

Publications

;Sole-authored books

Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749–1792: A history of the division of Java. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | title=Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749-1792 : a history of the division of Java | date=1974 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-713578-5 }}
Yogyakarta di bawah Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749-1792: Sejarah pembagian Jawa. Transl. Hartono Hadikusumo & E. Setiyawati Alkhatab. Ed. Revianto Budi Santosa.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | title=Yogyakarta di bawah Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749-1792 : sejarah pembagian Jawa | date=2002 | publisher=Matabangsa | isbn=978-979-9471-09-3 }} (Revised Indonesian edition of Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi.)
Modern Javanese historical tradition: A study of an original Kartasura chronicle and related materials. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1978.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | author2=University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies | title=Modern Javanese historical tradition : a study of an original Kartasura chronicle and related materials | date=1978 | publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London | isbn=978-0-7286-0045-4 }}
A history of modern Indonesia, ca. 1300 to the present. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1993.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin), 1943- | title=A History of Modern Indonesia: c. 1300 to the Present | date=1983 | publisher=Macmillan, London | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/228878496 | access-date=30 December 2019 }}
War, culture and economy in Java, 1677–1726: Asian and European imperialism in the early Kartasura period. Sydney: Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen & Unwin, 1993.

{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | author2=Asian Studies Association of Australia | title=War, culture, and economy in Java, 1677-1726 : Asian and European imperialism in the early Kartasura period | date=1993 | publisher=Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen & Unwin | isbn=978-1-86373-380-9 }}

The seen and unseen worlds in Java, 1726–49: History, literature and Islam in the court of Pakubuwana II. New South Wales: Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen & Unwin and University of Hawaii Press, 1998.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | author2=Asian Studies Association of Australia | title=The seen and unseen worlds in Java 1726-1749 : history, literature and islam in the Court of Pakubuwana II | date=1998 | publisher=Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with Allen & Unwin and University of Hawaii Press | isbn=978-1-86448-627-8 }}
Mystic Synthesis in Java: A History of Islamization from the Fourteenth to the Early Nineteenth Centuries. EastBridge, 2006.
Polarizing Javanese Society: Islamic and Other Visions (c. 1830–1930). University of Hawaii Press, 2007.
Islamisation and Its Opponents in Java: A Political, Social, Cultural and Religious History, C. 1930 to the Present. University of Hawaii Press, 2012.
Soul Catcher: Java’s Fiery Prince Mangkunagara I, 1726-95. NUS Press, 2018.

;Co-authored book

Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain: A catalogue of manuscripts in Indonesian languages in British public collections by M. C. Ricklefs and P. Voorhoeve. London Oriental Bibliographies, vol. 5.{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | author2=Voorhoeve, Peter | title=Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain : a catalogue of manuscripts in Indonesian languages in British public collections | date=1977 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-713592-1 }}
Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain: A catalogue of manuscripts in Indonesian languages in British public collections; New edition with addenda et corrigenda by M.C. Ricklefs, P. Voorhoeve† and Annabel Teh Gallop. Jakarta:{{Citation | author1=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin) | author2=Gallop, Annabel Teh, (author.) | author3=Voorhoeve, P. (Petrus), (author.) | author4=École française d'Extrême-Orient (publisher.) | title=Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain : a catalogue of manuscripts in Indonesian languages in British public collections = Naskah-naskah Indonesia di Inggris : katalogus naskah dalam bahasa Nusantara di perpustakaan umum di Inggris | date=2014 | publisher=Jakarta Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient | edition=New edition with addenda et corrigenda | isbn=978-2-85539-189-2 }}

;Co-authored and edited books

;Edited and translated book

Pantheism and monism in Javanese suluk literature: Islamic and Indian mysticism in an Indonesian setting {{Citation | author1=Zoetmulder, P. J. (Petrus Josephus) | author2=Ricklefs, M. C. (Merle Calvin), 1943- | author3=Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde | title=Pantheism and monism in Javanese suluk literature : Islamic and Indian mysticism in an Indonesian setting | date=1995 | publisher=KITLV Press, 1995, c1994 | isbn=978-90-6718-082-5 }}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20151117063544/http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/about/hismcr.htm Homepage at National University of Singapore]
[https://www.humanities.org.au/our-fellows/fellows/?find_contact_id=3278§ion_select=117&fellowType_select=0&bio_search&name_search=ricklefs&year_election&country_search=0&state_search=0 Biography at Australian Academy of Humanities]
[https://law.unimelb.edu.au/centres/cilis/about/associates/associate-profiles/professor-merle-ricklefs Biography at University of Melbourne Law School]
Cornell University notable alumni
[http://gevans.org/speeches/speech483.html Professor Gareth Evans speech launching Islamisation and its Opponents]
[https://www.humanities.org.au/civicrm?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fmailing%2Fview&id=597 Australian Academy of Humanities Vale Merle Calvin Ricklefs AM FAHA 1943-2019]
[https://www.kitlv.nl/in-memoriam-professor-merle-c-ricklefs-1943-2019/ KITLV In Memoriam Professor Merle C. Ricklefs (1943-2019)]

Category:1943 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Historians of Southeast Asia

Category:Cornell University alumni

Category:Academic staff of the National University of Singapore

Category:Javanists

Category:Academics of SOAS University of London

Category:Academic staff of Monash University

Category:Academic staff of the Australian National University

Category:Academic staff of the University of Melbourne

Category:Australian historians

Category:Indonesianists