Samsi Sastrawidagda

Samsi Sastrawidagda (13 March 1894 – 1963) was an Indonesian politician who was the first Minister of Finance of Indonesia, serving for just under one month in September 1945. He was also one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party.

Dr.
Samsi Sastrawidagda
Official portrait of Samsi Sastrawidagda
Official portrait, c. 1945
1st Minister of Finance
In office
2 September – 26 September 1945
PresidentSukarno
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byA. A. Maramis
Member of the BPUPK
In office
28 May – 7 August 1945
Preceded byOrganization established
Succeeded byOrganization abolished
Personal details
Born(1894-03-13)13 March 1894
Surakarta, Dutch East Indies
Died1963 (aged 68-69)

Early life and education

He was born in Surakarta on 13 March 1894. He was a graduate of a Hollandsch-Inlandsche School and went to the Netherlands in 1913 with a scholarship from Budi Utomo, graduating from a teachers' training school. He continued his studies at the Rotterdam Trade School, graduating with his dissertation De Ontwikkeling v.d handels politik van Japan (The Development of the Trade Politics of Japan). In the Netherlands, he was recruited to teach Javanese and Malay.[1][2] He also travelled to Denmark in 1925 with Mohammad Hatta to study cooperative business there.[3]

Career

After returning to Indonesia, Samsi was one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party (PNI) on 4 July 1927, along with Sukarno, Sartono, and Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo among others. He was appointed as party commissioner.[4] During this period, Samsi worked in Bandung, where he leased the veranda of Sukarno's home for use as his accountant's office.[5] Later, he moved to Surabaya after the arrest of many nationalists and the disbandment of PNI, and there he joined Partindo.[6][7]

Prior to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia in 1942, Samsi was considered by the Japanese as a potential fifth columnist which would aid the invasion, though such efforts ended up unnecessary.[8]: 2  During the occupation, he was a member of the Japanese-established Central Advisory Council and labor organization Pusat Tenaga Rakyat, in addition to being an adviser to the Finance Department of the occupation government.[9] He was also appointed as a member of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK).[10][11]

Following the proclamation of Indonesian independence, Samsi was appointed as the Finance Minister in the first Indonesian cabinet. During his brief tenure, Samsi attempted to raise funds for the new government by accessing leftover funds from the previous Dutch East Indies government seized by the Japanese following the invasion. One such source was a bank in Surabaya, and obtaining it was made possible due to Samsi's close connections with Japanese military officers. A "robbery" was arranged in order to hide the Japanese officers' involvement. The act raised money for both the central republican government and for the local militia units in Surabaya. He resigned due to health reasons on 26 September 1945 and was replaced by Alexander Andries Maramis. Samsi served in the ministerial post from 2 to 26 September 1945.[12][13]

He died in 1963.[14]

References
  1. Anderson, Benedict Richard O'Gorman (1988). Revoloesi pemoeda: pendudukan Jepang dan perlawanan di Jawa 1944-1946 (in Indonesian). Pustaka Sinar Harapan. p. 474. ISBN 978-979-416-027-5.
  2. Otterspeer, W. (1989). Leiden Oriental Connections: 1850 - 1940. BRILL. p. 260. ISBN 978-90-04-09022-4.
  3. Suleman, Zulfikri (2010). Demokrasi untuk Indonesia: pemikiran politik Bung Hatta (in Indonesian). Penerbit Buku Kompas. p. 80. ISBN 978-979-709-484-3.
  4. Ingleson, John (1983). Jalan ke pengasingan: Pergerakan Nasionalis Indonesia tahun 1927-1934 (in Indonesian). Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Penerangan Ekonomi dan Sosial. p. 35.
  5. "Sukarno, Kopi, dan Peuyeum". Historia (in Indonesian). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. Orang Indonesia jang terkemoeka di Djawa (in Indonesian). Gunseikanbu. 1944. p. 296.
  7. "Tokoh-tokoh Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia Jilid 2" (PDF) (in Indonesian). Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Direktorat Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional, Proyek Inventarisasi dan Dokumentasi Sejarah Nasional. 1993. pp. 133–135. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  8. Touwen-Bouwsma, Elly (1996). "The Indonesian Nationalists and the Japanese "Liberation" of Indonesia: Visions and Reactions". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 27 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1017/S002246340001064X. ISSN 0022-4634. JSTOR 20071754. S2CID 159612691. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  9. Malaka, Tan (10 March 2020). From Jail to Jail. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-404-3.
  10. "Daftar Anggota BPUPKI". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). 11 February 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  11. Arniati Prasedyawati Herkusumo (1982). Chuo Sangi-in: Dewan Pertimbang Pusat Pada Masa Pendudukan Jepang [Chuo Sangi-in: The Central Advisory Council during the Japanese Occupation] (in Indonesian). Jakarta, Indonesia: PT. Rosda Jayaputra. pp. 35–36.
  12. "Samsi Sastrawidagda" (in Indonesian). Ministry of Finance. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  13. Ilham, Osa Kurniawan (2021). Beras untuk India: Solidaritas Kemanusiaan dalam Pusaran Revolusi Indonesia dan India 1945-1946 (in Indonesian). Elex Media Komputindo. p. 93. ISBN 978-623-00-2427-6.
  14. R. Mohamad dalam revolusi 1945 Surabaya: sebuah biografi (in Indonesian). Lima Sekawan. 1993.
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