Sastroamidjojo, all

Born May 21, 1903, in central Java; died Mar. 13, 1975, in Jakarta. Indonesian political and state figure.

A graduate of the University of Leiden with a doctorate in law, Sastroamidjojo took an active part in the national liberation struggle against the Dutch colonialists and was a member of various left-wing nationalist organizations, first of the National Party and then of the Partindo and Gerindo parties.

After the proclamation of Indonesia’s independence in 1945, Sastroamidjojo held important posts in both the government and party. From 1946 to 1949, he headed the political section of the National Party, which had been reconstituted in January 1946. From 1947 to 1949 he was minister of education and culture. He took part in negotiations with the Netherlands on the Renville in 1948 and at the Round Table Conference of 1949. From 1950 to 1953 he was ambassador to the USA, with accreditation at the same time to Canada and Mexico.

Sastroamidjojo was prime minister in the periods 1953–55 and 1956–57, in cabinets that governed with the support of democratic forces and that carried out a number of progressive reforms. He was one of the organizers and chairman of the Bandung Conference of 1955, Indonesia’s permanent representative to the UN from 1957 to 1960, and deputy chairman of the Provisional People’s Consultative Congress from 1961 to 1966. The leader of the left wing of the National Party, he was the party’s chairman from 1960 to 1966. After the events of Sept. 30, 1965, Sastroamidjojo was removed from all his posts.