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 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 ...

from 1950 until his execution in 1966 by Indonesian forces loyal to

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 ...

Early life

His father was

Moluccan Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian prov ...

and his mother was an

Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...

, meaning of mixed Dutch and indigenous Indonesian descent. After high school, he studied law at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

before returning to Indonesia in 1935 and finding work as a law official in Java.

Political career

Between May 1947 and February 1950, he served as Minister of Justice in four

cabinets A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

of the

State of East Indonesia The State of East Indonesia ( id, Negara Indonesia Timur, old spelling: ''Negara Indonesia Timoer'', nl, Oost-Indonesië) was a post–World War II state formed in the eastern half of Dutch East Indies. Established in December 1946, it became ...

. In April 1950, Soumokil, Johanis Manuhutu, and Albert Wairisal signed a declaration proclaiming the independence of the South Moluccas from 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 ...

and the founding of an independent

. He became its second president on 3 May, a week after its creation.

Exile and execution

After the Indonesian

invasion of Ambon The Invasion of Ambon was a combined Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the self proclaimed Republic of South Maluku. Background Following the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference, the Netherlands recognized the ...

and its successful attack on the rebel capital of

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...

, Soumokil fled to the nearby island of

Seram 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 ...

, where he led a small band of guerillas until his capture on 2 December 1963. He was initially imprisoned on

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 ...

. Soumokil was executed by firing squad on 12 April 1966, on Pulau Ubi Basar by forces loyal to

References

Footnotes

Bibliography