Oene Djoenaidi (3 March 1895 – 6 June 1966), better known in Indonesia as R.H.O. Djoenaidi, was an Indonesian businessman. He sponsored the ''

Pemandangan ''Pemandangan'' was a daily Indonesian language newspaper published in the Dutch East Indies (or later Indonesia) between 1933 and 1958. It was one of the few local newspapers which was initially allowed to operate during the Japanese occupation o ...

'' newspaper and was active in early Indonesian press.

Early life

Djoenaidi was born on 3 March 1895. As a teenager, he studied

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

, during which he became familiar with the

Sarekat Islam Sarekat Islam or Syarikat Islam ( 'Islamic Association' or 'Islamic Union'; SI) was an Indonesian socio-political organization founded at the beginning of the 20th Century during the Dutch colonial era. Initially, SI served as a cooperative of ...

(SI) and its leaders in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. By the age of 18, he had returned to Indonesia, to his home in

Tasikmalaya en, Neaty City , nickname = nl, Delhi Van Java en, Delhi of Java , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Great Mosque of Tasi ...

, and joined the SI.

Career

Once he returned, Djoenaidi worked to manage his father's coconut plantation, and traded in textiles around

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

. He expanded the agricultural business to

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

and rubber, and became known with the moniker "Lemongrass King". He also started a publisher, Galunggung, in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

. In 1933, during a business trip to

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 ...

, he met journalist

Saeroen Saeroen ( Perfected Spelling: Saerun; fl. 1920s–1962) was an Indonesian journalist and screenwriter. Born in Yogyakarta, he became a journalist after a time working at a railway station. By the mid-1930s he had established the daily ''Pemandang ...

who stayed in a hostel run by Djoenaidi's son, and he agreed to invest in Saeroen's newspaper ''

''. Within ''Pemandangan'', Djoenaidi invested a significant proportion of his personal wealth, appointed

Mohammad Tabrani Mohammad Tabrani Soerjowitjitro (10 October 1904 – 12 January 1984) was an Indonesian journalist and politician. He originated from the island of Madura and received journalistic education in Europe. In his early journalistic career, Tabrani was ...

as chief editor when Saeroen left, and was noted to be generous in compensation to writers and employees. In 1940 Djoenaidi additionally raised funds through ''Pemandangan'' to repatriate Indonesians living in Mecca stranded by transport restrictions due to

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 ...

. During the

Japanese occupation of Indonesia The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history. In May ...

, Djoenaidi was made deputy chief editor of the Japan-backed ''

Asia Raya ''Asia Raya'' (also spelled ''Asia-Raja''; 'Grand Asia') was a newspaper published in the Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia) during the Japanese occupation. Background When the Japanese Empire occupied the Dutch East Indies in 1942, they ...

'' newspaper. Following Indonesian independence, Djoenaidi along with others such as

Adam Malik Adam Malik Batubara (22 July 1917 – 5 September 1984), or more commonly referred to simply as Adam Malik, was an Indonesians, Indonesian politician, diplomat, and journalist, who served as the 3rd Vice President of Indonesia from 1978 until ...

and Sumanang co-founded the National Press Company (''Badan Usaha Penerbitan Nasional''), and he became a member of its

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. Djoenaidi had significant connections with republican leaders during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

, at one point being arrested by the Dutch due to "connection with terrorist activities". He died on 6 June 1966 in his home 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 ...

, having been treated for cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djoenaidi, Oene 1895 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Indonesian businesspeople Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Indonesian Muslims Pemandangan people People from Tasikmalaya