Sumitro Djojohadikusumo

Sumitro Djojohadikusumo
3rd Minister of Research of Indonesia
In office
March 28, 1973 – March 28, 1978
President Soeharto
Preceded by Suhadi Reksowardojo
Succeeded by Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
8th Indonesian Minister of Finance
In office
April 3, 1952 – July 30, 1953
President Soekarno
Preceded by Jusuf Wibisono
Succeeded by Ong Eng Die
In office
August 12, 1955 – March 24, 1956
President Soekarno
Preceded by Ong Eng Die
Succeeded by Jusuf Wibisono
7th Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade
In office
September 6, 1950 – April 27, 1951
President Soekarno
Preceded by Tandiono Manu
Succeeded by Sujono Hadinoto
In office
June 6, 1968 – March 28, 1973
President Soeharto
Preceded by M. Jusuf
Succeeded by Radius Prawiro
Personal details
Born May 29, 1917
Kebumen, Central Java, Dutch East Indies
Died March 9, 2001 (aged 83)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Spouse(s) Dora Sigar
Children Prabowo Subianto
Hashim Djojohadikusumo
Maryani Djojohadikusumo
Bianti Djiwandono
Alma mater Sorbonne University
Religion Sunni Islam

Prof. Dr. Raden Mas Sumitro Djojohadikusumo (sometimes spelt Soemitro Djojohadikoesoemo)[1] (born in Kebumen, Central Java on May 29, 1917 and died in Jakarta on March 9, 2001) was one of Indonesia's most prominent economists. During his lifetime Sumitro held several prominent roles including the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Indonesia.

Sumitro's children include Prabowo Subianto and the Indonesian entrepreneur Hashim Djojohadikusumo. Bianti Djiwandono, his daughter, is married to the former Governor of Bank Indonesia, Soedradjad Djiwandono. His son Prabowo was briefly married to Titiek Hediati, the daughter of former Indonesian president Suharto.

Early life

Sumitro was born in Kebumen, Central Java, on May 29, 1917, the eldest son in an aristocratic Javanese family. Soemitro was the son of Margono Djojohadikusumo, the founder of Bank Negara Indonesia and the first chief of DPAS and member of the Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence (Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or BPUPKI). He spent his childhood in Java before moving to Europe, where he received his academic training, first at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris and later at Economische Hogeschool (the College of Economics) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

He first won recognition as an economist at the age of 29, serving as an adviser to the Dutch delegation attending the United Nations Security Council meeting in London in 1946.

He married his wife, Dora Sigar who was born in North Sulawesi, in 1947.

Government and political career

In March 1946 Sumitro returned to the newly independent Indonesia. He served in a series of successive governments, starting as an assistant to prime minister Sutan Sjahrir. In 1948 he was the deputy chief delegate representing Indonesia at the UN Security Council meeting at Lake Success.

Following Indonesia's international recognition in December 1949, Sumitro became chargé d'affaires at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, before becoming one of five experts assisting the UN secretary-general.[2]

Sumitro went on to serve as the a Cabinet Minister for both Sukarno and Soeharto.

During the late 1950s Sumitro became involved in the PRRI/Permesta Affair during which disgruntled leaders in several provinces in Sumatra and Sulawesi declared independence from the central government in Jakarta. The movement was quickly crushed and Sumitro fled abroad.

A brief summary of Sumitro's career is as follows:[3]

Contributions to Indonesian higher education

Sumitro played a prominent role in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Indonesia (FEUI). Following Independence, Sumitro was the only Indonesian with a doctorate in economics. Sumitro invited to foreign lecturers from the Netherlands and lecturers from other faculties to assist in educating the students in the FEUI. As tensions grew and Dutch professors were pushed out of their roles in the university, Sumitro recognized the need for more Indonesian economists. Sumitro asked the Ford Foundation to help support teaching in the Economics Faculty by sending a group of promising Indonesian students to the University of California, Berkeley to study economics. This group of students, who later sometimes became known as the Berkeley Mafia, returned to Indonesia to serve in several high profile government positions and are credited as the architects of the modren Indonesian economy. The group included Widjojo Nitisastro, Mohammad Sadli, Emil Salim, Subroto, and Ali Wardhana.

Despite his socialist views, Sumitro was asked to be one of the founders of the Indonesian Islamic University (Universitas Islam Indonesia, UII) in Yogakarta. Without buildings, Sumitro and his colleagues taught their classes in a mosque.

Bibliographies

References

  1. ↑ The preferred spelling, both of his family and of Sumitro himself, was the modern form of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. His father, Margono Djojohadikusumo, uses the modern form of spelling in his book, Margono Djojohadikusumo, 1969, Reminiscences from 3 Historical Periods: A Family Tradition put in Writing, Jakarta: P.T. Indira. Sumitro himself wrote various books under the name of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.
  2. ↑ http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2001/03/10/sumitro-dies-84-heart-failure.html
  3. ↑ See Ready Susanto, Mari mengenal kabinet Indonesia [Let's know the cabinet of Indonesia], Lazuardi Buku Utama, Jakarta, 2011. See also, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo in Thee Kian Wie (ed), Recollections: The Indonesian economy, 1950s - 1990s, ISEAS, Singapore, ISBN 981-230-174-7.

External links