Abdurrahman Wahid

4th President of the Republic of Indonesia (1940–2009)

Fame63.2
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Global rank#112

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Fame63.2
Momentum7.0
Global rank#112
Indonesia rank#63
Politicians rank#150
Wikipedia22.5K

Lived 1940–2009, aged 69Indonesia

Indonesia PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
68 languages
Cross-language footprint
Global rank
#112
Fame.am leaderboard
Era
1940–2009
Aged 69
Awards
5
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

He led Indonesia for just two years before being ousted, but Gus Dur left a mark few presidents manage: lifting the ban on Chinese New Year, making Confucianism an official religion, and becoming the first leader with Chinese ancestry to hold the office. The blind cleric turned politician remains "Father of Pluralism" in a country still working out what that

Biography

About

Born 7 September 1940 as the son of a minister and grandson of the man who founded Nahdlatul Ulama, Abdurrahman Wahid grew up inside Indonesia's largest Islamic organization. Glaucoma cost him sight in his left eye and most of his right, but he rose to lead Nahdlatul Ulama for years before founding the National Awakening Party in 1998. Elected Indonesia's fourth president in 1999, he used his brief tenure to undo Suharto-era restrictions: Presidential Decree No. 6 annulled the 1967 ban that had confined Chinese New Year celebrations to community centers, and he established Confucianism as the…

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