Johanis Hermanus Manuhutu (born in Haria, Saparua on 9 April 1908 - died in Haria, Saparua, 22 August 1984) was a South Moluccan civil servant in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and the first president of the

Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exerte ...

(or South Moluccas) in 1950.Tirto: RMS yang Mencoba Bertahan di Negeri Belanda

Biography

Manuhutu completed his initial education at

Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs ( Dutch, "more advanced primary education") was during part of the twentieth century a level of education in the Netherlands (and the Dutch East Indies), comparable with the junior high school level in the US educati ...

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south and various districts ('' ...

and then studied at the Education School for Native Civil Servants (OSVIA) in

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

. Starting 1929 he worked at the Inland Government Service in Ambon. Later he was transferred to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

where he suffered Japanese occupation during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After that war he was, among other things, head of the South Moluccas Daïra (province) of the (federal) state of West Indonesia during the time of the

United States of Indonesia The United States of Indonesia ( nl, Verenigde Staten van Indonesië, id, Republik Indonesia Serikat, abbreviated as RIS), was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (except ...

. In response to the attempts to centralize by the government in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, the initiative was taken to withdraw the Daerah South Moluccas from the federation. On April 25, 1950, at the initiative of

Chris Soumokil Christiaan Robbert Steven Soumokil (13 October 1905 – 12 April 1966) was a South Moluccan politician and prosecutor who served as the second president of the Republic of South Maluku from 1950 until his execution in 1966 by Indonesian fo ...

and

Johan Manusama Johannes Alvarez Manusama (17 August 1910 – 29 December 1995) was a former schoolteacher and freemason, RMS Minister of Education and Minister of Defence (1950), was the third president of the Republic of South Moluccas (1966–1993). His ...

, the independent

Republic of South Moluccas South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exerte ...

(in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

Republik Maluku Selatan) was proclaimed by a declaration signed by Johanis Manuhutu and Albert Wairisal. Manuhutu was appointed as President and Waisiral became Prime Minister. On May 3, 1950, Chris Soumokil succeeded him as president. In early 1952, Manuhutu was captured by the Indonesian army in an operation on

Seram Island Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

, and was sentenced to five years in prison. He stated that he had issued the proclamation under heavy pressure from the military at the time. In August 1955, he was pardoned and thus effectively released after three and a half years of imprisonment. Later he went to live near Jakarta with his wife and brother, where he worked for a shipping company. He reconciled with the Indonesian authorities and in 1970 he may have been involved in discussions about the possible return of Ambonese people from the Netherlands. Manuhutu was married and had seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manuhutu, Johanis 1908 births 1984 deaths Presidents of the Republic of South Maluku Moluccan independence activists Moluccan people