Soenario

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Prof. Soenario (28 August 1902-18 May 1997^[1]), also spelled Sunario, was Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs from 1953 to 1955.

Born in Madiun, East Java, he was educated at Leiden University in the Netherlands and was a founder of Perhimpunan Indonesia^[2] (in at least one source referred to as Perhimpunan Mahasiswa Indonesia^[3]), an Indonesian students’ organization, while studying at the Faculty of Law. In the late 1920's, he returned to Java and established a private law practice in Bandung, while becoming active in Sukarno's Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia^[4], later renamed Partai Nasional Indonesia. In 1928, he was Bandung's delegate to the Second Indonesian Youth Congress in Batavia, where he would meet his future wife, Sunardien, then the delegate from Manado.

On 30 July 1953, Soenario was appointed minister of foreign affairs in the cabinet of the prime minister Ali Sastroamidjojo. Soenario had a key role in the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement^[5]^[6] and was an essential participant in the Asian-African Conference in 1955. On 23 April 1955, Soenario and Zhou Enlai, premier of the People's Republic of China, signed a treaty ending the dual nationality of the 2.5 million Chinese living in Indonesia. Under the treaty, citizens of Chinese origin would have to choose within two years whether they have Chinese or Indonesian nationality.^[7]

From 1956 to 1961, Soenario was Indonesia's ambassador to the Court of St. James's^[8], then chancellor of Diponegoro University in Semarang from 1963 to 1966. On August 15 1985, he was awarded the Bintang Mahaputera, Indonesia's highest civilian award^[9].

Then-President Suharto spoke at Soenario's funeral in 1997. In 2002, the hundredth anniversary of his birth was commemorated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta.

1 Family
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 Notes

[edit] Family

Soenario was the eldest son (and the first of 14 children) of Raden Mas Sutejo Sastrowardoyo (1876-1968), a wedono of the Uteran District in Madiun^[10], and Raden Ayu Ratna Suyati Sastrowardoyo (née Kartokusumo) (1887-1980), a noblewoman descended from a minister of the Majapahit Empire. His wife, Sunardien, preceded him in death in 1995. A daughter, Astrid Susanto, deputy chair of the People's Representative Council’s Commission I, died in 2006^[11]. He is survived by two other daughters -- Sunaryati Hartono, vice chairman of the National Ombudsman Commission of Indonesia, and Wuryastuti Sunario, managing director of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board -- and a son, Irawan Sunario. A granddaughter, Maya Sunario^[12], is a member of the Indonesian-Irish Association based in Dublin.

Mr. Soenario's siblings included Dra. Sukanti Suryochondro, a former instructor in women's studies at the University of Indonesia; Subekti Sastrowardojo, who died in infancy during the 1918 influenza pandemic; Suryono Sastrowardoyo, a career diplomat whose posts included Singapore, Italy, the United States and Poland; Dr. Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo, a physician, surgeon and memoirist; Prof. Subagio Sastrowardoyo, a noted poet and academic; and Sumarsongko H. Sastrowardoyo, M.A., formerly of the staff of the Consulate General of Indonesia in New York City.

He is a first cousin, once removed, of Nugroho Wisnumurti, who was Indonesia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland from 2000 to 2004^[13]. Two nephews, Rahadyan Sastrowardoyo^[14] and Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo^[15], are journalists based in the U.S. The actress Dian Sastrowardoyo is a grand-niece.

Like many Javanese, Mr. Soenario had just one name, though the practice of a given name plus a surname chosen after higher education had begun with his father in 1896. In the old Dutch spelling, the family name had been spelled Sastrowardojo but, even prior to the spelling reform in Indonesia in 1972, some members had changed the j to a y -- and one brother, Sudibbyo, spelled the name Sastrowardhoyo, reflecting the aspirant d.

The family name was derived from sastra (Sanskrit, 'writings') and wardaya (Sanskrit, 'heart'), so literally meant "writings of the heart."

His father, Sutejo Sastrowardoyo, traced the family's ancestry back to 15th century Java.

[edit] Bibliography

Sunaryati Hartono with Hendarmin Djarab, Semangat Kebangsaan Dan Politik Luar Negeri Indonesia: Peringatan 100 Tahun Prof. Mr. Sunario, Mantan Menteri Luar Negeri, Perintis Kemerdekaan, 28 Agustus 1902-28 Agustus 2002 (2002), ISBN 979-665-193-9