Abdullah Aidit (23 October 1900 – 14 February 1969) was an Indonesian politician and civil servant who served as a member of the

Provisional People's Representative Council The Provisional People's Representative Council ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Sementara) was the first Indonesian legislature under the Provisional Constitution of 1950. The council was formed after the transition of Indonesia to a unitary state ...

. He was the father of

D. N. Aidit Dipa Nusantara Aidit (born Ahmad Aidit; 30 July 1923 – 22 November 1965) was an Indonesian communist politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) from 1951 until his summary execution during the Indones ...

, chairman of the

Indonesian Communist Party The Communist Party of Indonesia ( Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965 ...

who was executed in 1965 following the

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...

Early life and education

Abdullah was born in

Tanjung Pandan Tanjungpandan (official writing style) (, Jawi: تنجوڠ ڤندن ), is the largest town on the island Belitung in the Indonesian province of Bangka-Belitung, Indonesia. Tanjungpandan is the capital of the Belitung Regency comprising one of the ...

on 23 October 1900. He was the son of Haji Ismail, a fishery businessman in

Belitung Belitung ( Belitung Malay: ''Belitong'', formerly Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers , and had a population of 309,097 at the 2020 Census. Administratively, it forms two regencies ( Beli ...

. He worked as a forest ranger, and due to his family connections he managed to put all his eight children to school at

Hollandsch-Inlandsche School Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS) (Dutch school for natives) was a school during the Dutch colonial era in Indonesia. The school, was first established in 1914, following with the enactment of the Dutch Ethical Policy The Dutch Ethical Polic ...

. He was active in the local Islamic community, founding a local Islamic education institution. Two of his sons, Achmad Aidit and Murad Aidit, studied in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

, at a significant cost to the family's finances. When Achmad Aidit wanted to change his name, Abdullah resisted, primarily because he did not want to handle administrative problems associated with a change of name. He eventually relented, and Achmad changed his name to

Dipa Nusantara Aidit Dipa Nusantara Aidit (born Ahmad Aidit; 30 July 1923 – 22 November 1965) was an Indonesian communist politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) from 1951 until his summary execution during the mass ...

Political career

During the Indonesian National Revolution, Abdullah was one of the leaders of pro-independence militia groups in Belitung, and briefly went to

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

. In 1950, he served as a member of the

People's Representative Council of the United States of Indonesia The People's Representative Council of the United States of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia Serikat, DPR-RIS) was one of the two national legislative assemblies in the United States of Indonesia (RUSI). The council was f ...

as a delegate from Belitung (not representing any political parties), and then the

until his resignation on 25 June 1954. He was replaced by

Njoto Lukman Njoto or Njoto (17 January 1927 – 13 December 1965) was a senior national leader of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), who joined the party shortly after the country's declaration of independence, and was killed following the 1965 co ...

, a member of the

. He was a member of the

Indonesian Islamic Union Party Indonesian Islamic Union Party ( id, Partai Sarekat Islam Indonesia) was an Islamic political party in Indonesia before and after independence. In 1973 it was merged into the United Development Party. The pre-independence party Establishment an ...

's leadership committee between 1953 and 1955. Abdullah was staying at

's Jakarta home at the night of 30 September 1965. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, D. N. Aidit was arrested by soldiers, and Abdullah for a time took care of his son's children. He was also briefly arrested by soldiers in a case of mistaken identity (unlike his son, Abdullah was not wanted), and was released after one day. At that time, he was a legislator of the National People's Party. Abdullah was later assisted by deputy prime minister

Chaerul Saleh Chairul Saleh Dt Paduko Rajo (September 13, 1916 – February 8, 1967) was born in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra. He was an Indonesian government minister and vice prime minister during the Sukarno presidency. He was a close confidant of Sukarno, who ...

in returning to Belitung. He died alone at his house in Tanjung Pandan on 14 February 1969, his body only being discovered by his neighbor's wife three days after his death.

Notes

References

{{reflist 1900 births 1968 deaths Members of the People's Representative Council, 1950 People from Belitung Regency Indonesian Muslims