Bacharuddin Habibie

ABOUT BACHARUDDIN HABIBIE

Former politician and engineer who served as the 3rd President of Indonesia from 1998-99 and, previously, as the 7th Vice President. He became known for liberalizing his country's press and political party laws.

He studied aviation and aerospace at the Technische Hogeschool Delft and at the Technische Hochschule Aachen.

He was the State Minister for Research and Technology of Indonesia from 1978-98.

His mother Tuti was a noblewoman and his father Alwi was an agriculturist. He has sons named Ilham and Thareq. His wife Hasri passed away in 2010.

Two months after his inauguration as Vice President, he ascended to the Presidency after the resignation of Suharto .