Lolo Soetoro Biography

Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo or Mangundikardjo was an Indonesian geologist who is best known as the stepfather of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. He was a colonel in the Indonesian army and later worked in government relations at Union Oil Company. Two decades after his death, he made news headlines after Obama decided to run for presidency. Obama, who had spent four years in Indonesia during his childhood, was under scrutiny by conservatives who alleged that he had been a practicing Muslim, referring to the fact that most of his stepfather’s relatives were devout Muslims. Citing his registration records at the Santo Fransiskus Assisis School in Jakarta as Barry Soetoro, it was also claimed that Soetoro had adopted him and that he had Indonesian citizenship. While these claims have not been proved, detractors tried to question his eligibility to run for presidency. Obama had previously mentioned in his memoir, ‘Dreams from My Father’, how much of an influence Soetoro had been in his early life. He described his stepfather as well-mannered, even-tempered, and easy with people, who not only played tennis and chess with him, but also taught him boxing to protect himself from the "dangerous world".