Adrian Zecha
| Adrian Zecha | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Adrian Willem Lauw Zecha 1933 (age 83–84) Sukabumi, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Occupation | Hotelier, businessman |
Adrian Willem Lauw Zecha (born 1933) is an Indonesian hotelier and the current owner and founder of the Azerai hotel in Laos' Luang Prabang Province.
Zecha was born in Sukabumi, Indonesia to the prominent Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, a wealthy, landowning clan of Peranakan Chinese and Czech roots. He is a grandson of Louisa Zecha, an Indo-European woman of Czech descent, by her first marriage to Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen ("Lieutenant of the Chinese") of Bekasi. His uncle, Chester Sim Zecha, was a colonial politician and community leader who served in the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies. Zecha had a privileged upbringing that included being educated in the United States. He is also a cousin of the Malaysian royal, Che Engku Chesterina (née Sim-Zecha).
In 1956, when President Sukarno nationalised the country's private businesses, many members of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family fled to Singapore, The Netherlands and other countries. At the time the 23-year-old Zecha was in New York, working at Time magazine. In 1961, Zecha launched Asia Magazine, the first regional newspaper colour supplement in Asia. When the magazine faltered a year later, Rupert Murdoch was persuaded by Zecha to invest in the magazine (in what was his first Asian investment). The magazine was a part of English speaking families until 1998. It was held above water for its last ten years by Mr.Giro Semba and Mr. Olav Mueller-Uri until it finally closed in 1998. Olav Mueller-Uri is the person responsible for getting Air France back into Vietnam.
In 1970, Adrian started a new travel and lifestyle magazine named Orientations[1] based in Hong Kong. With the advent of in-flight magazines, Orientations dropped its travel content and progressed over the years to become a publication focused on the arts of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Himalayas. It is now the leading magazine in this field and its contributors are renowned scholars and researchers from around the world.
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