Sukarno (June 6,1901- June 21, 1970)

Sukarno was born on June 6, 1901, in Surabaya, East Java, of a Javanese father and Balinese mother. He was educated in his father's school in Mojokerto (East Java), the Dutch elementary school at Mojokerto, and the Dutch secondary school (HBS) in Surabaya. During this period he lived with H. O. S. Tjokroaminoto a prominent Islamic leader and head of Sarekat Islam.The 5 years (1916-1921) Sukarno spent in Surabaya were most important in his future intellectual and political development, for here he came in contact with prominent Indonesian nationalists and with Dutch socialists.

In 1927 he assisted in the formation of the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and became its first chairman, Following the decline of Sarekat Islam and the destruction of the Indies Communist Party after the revolts of 1926-1927, the PNI became the main voice of Indonesian secular nationalism, and Sukarno's skills of oratory drew large crowds to its meetings. Its success led, in December 1929, to Sukarno's arrest, trial, and conviction for behavior calculated to disturb public order. His defense speech became a classic of nationalist literature. After his release from prison in December 1931, Sukarno joined Partindo (the PNI's successor) and was arrested again in 1933). In spite of his resignation from Partindo and his promise to the authorities to abstain from political activity in the future, he was exiled first to Flores and then to Bengkulu.

Japanese occupied Indonesia in March 1942. The Japanese, familiar with Sukarno's strong anticolonialist views, made him a leader in their various organizations, and in June 1945 he headed the very important preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence.

Sukarno indicated clearly that his goal had always been, and still was, Indonesia's independence. On this occasion he set forth in eloquent terms the Pantjasila, or Five Pillars: nationalism, internationalism, democracy, social justice, and belief in God. On Aug. 17, 1945, Sukarno, at the strong urging of youth groups and colleagues, proclaimed his country's independence in Djakarta, and he became the first president of the new Republic of Indonesia, a position he retained for almost 21 years.

There are some rebels during the early years of the independence of Indonesia. but the worst one is when Sukarno united three groups whose philosophies were respectively nationalism (nasionalisme), religion (agama), and communism (komunisme) into an ideological front to which he gave the acronym Nasakom. This union was not successful, however, because the first two groups became unhappy at the extraordinarily rapid rise of the PKI and at Sukarno's strong praise of this party. This leads to abortive coup on Oct. 1, 1965, led by alleged Communist sympathizers.
Thousands of people were killed in the purge that followed. The army, under Gen. Suharto, assisted in the pogrom and supported the Indonesian students in their move to bring down Sukarno.

Under this pressure Sukarno, on March 11, 1966, transferred his presidential powers to Gen. Suharto, who was reluctant to remove Sukarno completely from the scene. The latter refused to go along with the new developments, and a year later he was deposed and placed under house confinement in Bogor, where he remained, a physically ill man, until a few days before his death in a Djakarta hospital on June 21, 1970, of complications from kidney trouble and high blood pressure. Sukarno was not accorded a place in the Heroes' Cemetery in Djakarta but was buried beside his mother in Blitar, East Java.

nice info.. without Him Indonesia never been like now.. He's a great man and great leader

sukarno is the greatest president for me.. the one who really remains in indoesian people... and the second is soeharo who makes indonesian so far a great country but also in a great debt..

now his has "reicarnation" on his daughter megawati. She just like Soekarno. I hope she will bw our next president like her father. I admire soekarno a lot

GBU