SOEKARNO....!

Sukarno (1901-1970) was the first president of Indonesia, a nationalist leader, and a demagogue. He was the founder of the Republic of Indonesia and a dominant figure throughout its history until his death.

Sukarno was born on June 6, 1901, in Surabaya, East Java, of a Javanese father and Balinese mother. At an early age the family moved to Modjokerto, where his father taught school. Sukarno's adequate knowledge of Dutch made it possible for him to enter the European elementary school. In 1916 he enrolled at a high school 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 1920 the left wing of the Sarekat Islam split away and formed the Indonesian Communist party (PKI). The following year Sukarno entered the Institute of Technology in Bandung, from which he graduated in 1926 as an engineer. He embarked on a political career, publishing a series of articles in which he endeavored to reconcile the two contending factions by trying to show that Islam and communism (socialism) were not incompatible.

The rallying force for Indonesian independence was to be nationalism, aggressively pursued. The enemies common to all groups in Indonesia were, in his judgment, imperialism and capitalism, both exemplified in the Dutch. Sukarno's belief that a misunderstanding had brought about the conflict between Islam and communism was first presented in 1926 and continued into the sixties.