About Abdurrahman Wahid
Abdurrahman Wahid ( AHB-doo-RAHKH-mahn wah-HEED; Indonesian: [abduˌrahman ˈwahid]; né ad-Dakhil, 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), more colloquially known as Gus Dur (Indonesian: [ˌɡʊs ˈdʊr] ), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indonesia, from his election in 1999 until he was removed from office in 2001. A long time leader within the Nahdlatul Ulama organization, he was the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his services to democratization and human rights in Indonesia. He was the son of former Minister of Religious Affairs Wahid Hasyim, and the grandson of Nahdatul Ulama founder Hasyim Asy'ari. Due to a visual impairment caused by glaucoma, he was blind in the left eye and roughly 80% blind in his right eye. He was the first (and to date only) president of Indonesia to have had physical disabilities. The country's first (and to date only) president confirmed of having a Chinese ancestry, Abdurrahman Wahid was instrumental in lifting the ban on Chinese New Year (Indonesian: Imlek). Until 1998, the spiritual practice to celebrate the Chinese New Year by Chinese families was restricted specifically only inside of Chinese community centers. This restriction is made by the New Order government through Presidential Instruction No. 14 of 1967 signed by Suharto. On 17 January 2000, Abdurrahman issued Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2000 to annul the previous instruction. He established Confucianism as the sixth official religion in Indonesia in 2000 and protected minority rights in Indonesia. As a result, Abdurrahman was given the title "Father of Pluralism". His popular nickname 'Gus Dur' is derived from Gus, a common honorific for a son of kyai, and from the short-form of bagus ('handsome lad' in Javanese); and Dur, short-form of his name, Abdurrahman. The name Abdurrahman Wahid means "Servant of Mercy the First." Abdurrahman was of Chinese, Arab and Javanese ancestry. There, while continuing his own education, Abdurrahman Wahid received his first job as a teacher and later on as headmaster of a madrasah affiliated with the pesantren.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.