Subandrio (15 September 1914 – 3 July 2004) was an Indonesian politician and Foreign Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia under President

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

. Removed from office following the failed 1965 coup, he spent 29 years in prison. The spelling "Subandrio" has been official in Indonesia since 1947 but the older spelling Soebandrio is still sometimes used.

Early career

Subandrio was born in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

, and educated at the Sekolah Tinggi Kedokteran Jakarta (GHS) 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 ...

. As a medical student he was active in the movement for independence. During

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 ...

, while practicing medicine, he worked with anti-Japanese resistance forces. His wife,

Hurustiati Subandrio Hurustiati Subandrio (–1974), in Van Ophuijsen Spelling Hoeroestiati Soebandrio, was an Indonesian physician, politician, anthropologist and social activist. She held a number of high-profile roles during the Sukarno era, including being head o ...

, was also a politically active medical doctor. After the war he was appointed secretary-general of the information ministry. After 1945 Subandrio became a supporter of the nationalist leader Sukarno, and was sent as Sukarno's special envoy in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, establishing an information office in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1947. From 1954 to 1956, he was ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. During this time he developed strong left wing views, although he was never a Communist as later alleged.

Cabinet minister

In 1956 Sukarno recalled him to Jakarta to become secretary-general of the foreign ministry, and then

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. In 1960 he was also made Second Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1962 he was appointed Minister for Foreign Economic Relations. He held all three posts, and also acted as intelligence chief, until 1966. Subandrio was the main architect of Indonesia's left-wing foreign policy during this period, including the alliance with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the policy of "

Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...

" with

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, which created great hostility between Indonesia and the western powers, particularly the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He was heavily involved in the Sunda Straits Crisis of 1964, when the British aircraft carrier HMS ''Victorious'' passed through Indonesian waters without proper approval.

Downfall of Sukarno

On 30 September 1965 a group of army officers, allegedly supported by the powerful

Communist Party of Indonesia 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. ...

(PKI), attacked a part of the Army leadership that was supposedly plotting to overthrow Sukarno. Six Army generals were killed but the alleged "coup attempt" failed. In the resulting anti-Communist backlash the conservative General

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

took control of the government. Sukarno tried to retain Subandrio in the cabinet, but in 1966 he was forced to agree to his dismissal. Subandrio was sentenced to death by the Extraordinary Military Court on charges of being involved in 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 ...

," although there was no real evidence that Subandrio knew of the plot in advance or played any part in it (he was in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

at the time* Hughes, John (2002), ''The End of Sukarno – A Coup that Misfired: A Purge that Ran Wild'', Archipelago Press, p.19, ). This sentence was afterwards reduced to life imprisonment upon the request of the British government on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, as it was remembered that Subandrio was Indonesia's first envoy to the U.K. He remained in prison until 1995, when he was released due to ill health. He died in Jakarta in 2004.

Early career

Cabinet minister

Downfall of Sukarno

References

Further reading