Teuku Jacob (6 December 1929 – 17 October 2007) was an Indonesian

paleoanthropologist Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and biological anthropology, anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as wikt:hominization, hominization, throug ...

. As a student of Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald in the 1950s, Jacob claimed to have discovered and studied numerous specimens of ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...

''. He came to international prominence as a vocal critic of scientists who believed remains discovered in Flores belonged to a new species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Homo ''Homo'' () is a genus of great ape (family Hominidae) that emerged from the genus ''Australopithecus'' and encompasses only a single extant species, ''Homo sapiens'' (modern humans), along with a number of extinct species (collectively called ...

'', ''

Homo floresiensis ''Homo floresiensis'' , also known as "Flores Man" or "Hobbit" (after Hobbit, the fictional species), is an Extinction, extinct species of small archaic humans that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of Homo sapiens, ...

''.

Career

Jacob studied at

Gadjah Mada University Gadjah Mada University (; , abbreviated as UGM) is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on 19 December 1949, Gadjah Mada University is one of the oldest and largest institut ...

's School of Medicine from 1950 to 1956;

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

from 1957 to 1958;

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

from 1958 to 1960, and finally

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

, where he completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in anthropology in 1967. As a young adult, Jacob actively participated in the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

, producing a nationalist radio program. After the end of the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, occupied the Netherlands, and ma ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Jacob served in the Indonesian armed forces. From 1982 to 1987, Jacob was also a member of the

People's Consultative Assembly The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of a lower body, House of Representatives (DPR) and an upper body, Regional R ...

. Jacob died in Dr. Sardjito Hospital at the age of 77 after suffering from a debilitating liver disease.

''Homo floresiensis''

Jacob came to international prominence when he expressed his disagreement with scientists who claimed that remains found on the island of

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

constituted a new human species, labeled ''Homo floresiensis''. Jacob insisted that the remains were those of microcephalic modern humans. In early December 2004, Jacob removed most of the remains from Soejono's institution,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

's National Research Centre of Archaeology, for his own research without the permission of the centre's directors. Jacob eventually returned the remains with portions severely damaged and missing two leg bones on February 23, 2005. Reports noted the condition of the returned remains included "long, deep cuts marking the lower edge of the Hobbit's jaw on both sides, said to be caused by a knife used to cut away the rubber mould"; "the chin of a second Hobbit snapped off and glued back together. Whoever was responsible misaligned the pieces and put them at an incorrect angle"; and, "The pelvis was smashed, destroying details that reveal body shape, gait and evolutionary history". This prompted the discovery team leader Morwood to remark "It's sickening, Jacob was greedy and acted totally irresponsibly". Jacob, however, denied any wrongdoing. He stated that such damage occurred during transport from

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

back to Jakarta despite the physical evidence to the contrary that the jawbone had been broken while making a mold of bones. In 2005 Indonesian officials forbade access to the cave and thus no other excavations in the place were possible. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

expressed the opinion that the reason for the restriction was to protect Jacob from being proven wrong. Scientists were allowed to return to the cave in 2007, the same year that Jacob died from liver disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Teuku 1929 births 2007 deaths Acehnese people People from Peureulak People from Yogyakarta Paleoanthropologists Indonesian anthropologists Indonesian scientists Utrecht University alumni Gadjah Mada University alumni Academic staff of Gadjah Mada University Members of the People's Consultative Assembly Deaths from liver disease 20th-century anthropologists