Hendarto Setiadi

Hendarto is a translator who was born and raised in Germany and spent the first 13 years of his life totally immersed in the German language and culture. After learning Bahasa Indonesia upon moving to Indonesia, in 1986 he eventually became a professional translator with Indonesian, German, and English as his working languages.

To date, he worked on hundreds of projects and produced millions of translated words for numerous clients across the globe, ranging from corporations, government institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. He specializes in the fields of hospitality, management, games and entertainment, film and TV, environment, culture, and books.

For his high quality work, Hendarto has received an Award of Appreciation from Gramedia Pustaka Utama, the largest publishing house in Indonesia.

For Hendarto, translation is not about word-for-word equivalence. Its purpose is to transmit the original message as intended by the writer and rendering it faithfully in a different language. For that reason, in-depth knowledge regarding the context of any translation project is of utmost importance, starting with the purpose of writing, the writer’s unique style, and even up to the personality of a fictional character in a novel.

Besides translating, Hendarto also engages in various translation related activities, to name a few:

Vice President
HPI (Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia)
(2004 – 2007)

President
HPI (Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia)
(2007 – 2010)

Chairman
IFT (International Federation of Translators)
5th Asian Translator Forum Committee
(2007)

Member
FBF (Frankfurt Book Fair)
Translation Committee, Indonesia Guest of Honour
(2015)

Head of Advisory Board
HPI (Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia)
(2016 – now)