Ir.

Raden is a Japanese termRaden.

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

from the province of

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

. He served in a number of national cabinets during the National Revolution, as the Minister of Welfare and later the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. Born in

Wonosobo Wonosobo Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦮꦤꦱꦧ, Kabupatèn Wanasaba) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Wonosobo, located at , about 120 km fr ...

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 ...

, he studied

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at the Delft Institute of Technology,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He returned to Indonesia in 1920, and worked for the Dutch government in a chemical laboratory 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 ...

. Following the proclamation of independence, he was appointed as Minister for Economic Affairs in the Presidential Cabinet. However, he only served for two months, before being appointed

, replacing the ill Sunarjo Kolopaking. He was replaced as finance minister by his deputy

Sjafruddin Prawiranegara Sjafruddin Prawiranegara ( EYD: Syafruddin Prawiranegara; 28 February 191115 February 1989) was an Indonesian statesman and economist. He served as the head of government in the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia, as Minister of F ...

upon the formation of the

Third Sjahrir Cabinet The third Sjahrir Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Sjahrir Ketiga) was the fourth Indonesian cabinet. It served from October 1946 to June 1947, when it fell due to disagreements related to implementation of the Linggadjati Agreement and subsequent negotiat ...

. He remained active in government affairs, and was appointed as the first

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dut ...

. Whilst on a diplomatic mission in the Netherlands, he died on 16 November 1952, from

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

Early life

Raden is a Japanese termRaden.

, on 30 August 1894. He was a descendent of Yogyakarta Sultan

Hamengkubuwono II Hamengkubuwono II (also spelled Hamengkubuwana II, 7 March 1750 – 3 January 1828), born Raden Mas Sundoro, was the second sultan of Yogyakarta 1792–1810, 1811–12Daendels stood down HBII in favour of his son Hamengkubuwono III and final ...

, and he had twelve siblings. His father, Raden Mas Tumenggung Suryoadikusumo, the third

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Wonosobo. His grandfather, Raden Mas Adipati Aryo Cokroadisuryo, also served as the regent of Wonosobo. He studied at a ''

Europeesche Lagere School Europeesche Lagere School (ELS) was a European elementary school system in what was then the Dutch East Indies during colonial rule. The schools were intended primarily for Europeans. The implementation of basic education at that time was diffe ...

'' before continuing to a '' Hogere Burgerschool'' 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 ...

. In 1915, he went to the Netherlands where he studied

at the Delft Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1920, and became the first Indonesian chemical engineer. Prior returning to the Indies, he briefly undertook an internship in Germany.

Early career

After returning, Surachman was appointed to lead a chemical laboratory in

, where he worked with

batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...

workers and

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

s, rejecting a job offer in the police department. In this period, he built a relationship with Bandung-based nationalists including

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 ...

, and Surachman was relocated to

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.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, ...

before returning to Bogor. Due to his government work, he decided against openly supporting the nationalist movement, but he did provide donations including helping fund the 1928 Second Youth Congress. In 1936, he was assigned to the colonial government's Economic Department in Batavia. During the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies 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 ...

, he was first appointed as a member of the Putera organization, before his appointment as chief of the economic department in July 1945.

Political career

Shortly after the

proclamation of Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

, he was appointed as Minister for Economic Affairs (later Minister of Welfare) on 19 August 1945 in the Presidential Cabinet. In this tenure, he announced the government economic policy which favored

cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

, and further announced that foreign property in Indonesia would still be respected by the new government. He was replaced by

Darmawan Mangunkusumo Darmawan Mangunkusumo (25 May 1901 – 2 August 1971) was an Indonesian economist and engineer who served as the Minister of Welfare between 1945 and 1946, within the First and Second Sjahrir Cabinets. Before his ministerial tenure, he worked as ...

when the cabinet fell in November 1945. Not long after, however, he was reappointed into the cabinet as Minister of Finance to replace the sick Sunarjo Kolopaking on 8 December 1945. He retained this post in the

Second Sjahrir Cabinet The second Sjahrir Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Sjahrir Kedua) was the third Indonesian cabinet and the second formed by Sutan Sjahrir. It served from March to June 1946. Background The first Sjahrir cabinet had been forced to resign by Tan Malaka an ...

. In his capacity as Finance Minister, Surachman was the first issuer of the Oeang Republik Indonesia, which was arranged to be exchanged with Japanese occupation currency at a 1,000:1 exchange rate. He also announced a 45 percent hike in the salaries of high level civil servants in order to attract skilled bureaucrats. In order to finance the government, Surachman also arranged for the first issuing of Indonesian government bonds in April 1946, which attracted significant interest and managed to reach the targeted amount of sales within less than a year, but due to poor archiving and later conflicts the government would default on. During this period, Surachman would often personally hold onto the government funds, storing the cash in suitcases inside of his home. He was replaced as finance minister by his deputy

on 2 October 1946 upon the formation of the

. He was still active in government affairs, however, and following

Operation Product Operation Product was a Dutch military offensive against areas of Java and Sumatra controlled by the Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution.Vickers (2005), p. 99 It took place between 21 July and 4 August 1947. Referr ...

in 1947, he formed a private company to accommodate the now-unemployed Republican civil servants around Jakarta. After the transfer of sovereignty in 1949, Surachman was appointed as the first Indonesian President of the

(UI) in 1950. He was also still active in Bandung, lecturing at the

Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology ( id, Institut Teknologi Bandung, abbreviated as ITB) is a national research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Since its establishment in 1920, ITB has been consistently recognized as Indonesia's premie ...

. In establishing the governance of UI, he had to displace an opium processing factory in order to be able to establish his rector's office. He died on 16 November 1952 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

from

, whilst on a diplomatic mission to negotiate the nationalization of Dutch tin mining companies in Indonesia.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{refend 1894 births 1952 deaths People from Wonosobo Regency Finance Ministers of Indonesia Agriculture ministers of Indonesia Delft University of Technology alumni University of Indonesia faculty Bandung Institute of Technology faculty Indonesian engineers