Biography of General Sudirman

General Sudirman (January 24, 1916 - January 29, 1950; also spelled Soedirman) was the military
commander of Indonesian forces during the country's fight for independence from the Dutch in the 1940s.

Sudirman was born in Bodas Karangjati village, Rembang, Purbalingga, Central Java, 24 January
1916. He studied at the Dutch Native School in Purwokerto, and then at a Muhammadiyah teacher training
college in Surakarta. He worked as a teacher at the Muhammadiyah school in Cilacap.

During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia during World War II, Sudirman trained to become a
battalion commander in Peta, the "homeland defense" army promoted by the Japanese.[1] When Japan
surrendered and Sukarno proclaimed Indonesian independence, he organized his Peta battalion into a
Banyumas-based regiment of the Republican army to resist Dutch reoccupation of its former colony. The
first major battle that he led was the Battle of Ambarawa against the British and the Dutch (November-
December 1945).[2] On 12 December he led a "coordinated attack" against British positions in Ambarawa,
driving the British all the way to Semarang. The battle ended on 16 December.[3]

On 12 November 1945 he was elected Commander-in-chief of the Army, a position he held until
his death. During much of the next five years he was sick with tuberculosis, but led several guerrilla actions
against the Dutch. He led the resistance to the Dutch attack on Yogyakarta, then the Republic of
Indonesia's headquarters, in December 1948. Theodore Friend (2003) describes him as having "...a
strangely blended samurai discipline, Marxist disposition, and raw courage."[1]

Sudirman died in Magelang, 29 January 1950 at the age of 35. He was buried in Heroes'
Cemetery in Semaki, Yogyakarta. He received the title of National Hero of Indonesia as an Independence
Defender Hero. Sudirman was the first and the youngest General in Indonesia
 Biography of Achmad Soebardjo

Raden Ahmad Soebardjo Djojoadisoerjo (Karawang Regency, West Java, 23 March 1896 – 15
December 1978) was a diplomat, one of Indonesia's founding fathers, and an Indonesian national hero. He was
the first Foreign Minister of Indonesia. In 1933, he received the degree Meester in de Rechten from Leiden
University, Netherlands.
Ahmad Soebardjo was born in Teluk Jambe, Karawang Regency, West Java, on 23 March 1896. His
father's name was Teuku Muhammad Yusuf, an Acehnese patrician from Pidie. His paternal grandfather was
an ulama and his father was the chief of police in Teluk Jambe, Karawang. His mother's name was
Wardinah. She was of Javanese-Buginese descent, and was daughter from Camat in Telukagung, Cirebon.
Initially, his father gave him the name Teuku Abdul Manaf, but his mother gave him the name
Ahmad Subardjo. Djojoadisoerjo was added by himself after he was arrested and imprisoned at Ponorogo Prison
because of his involvement with the "July 3, 1946 Incident".
He studied at Hogere Burger School, Jakarta in 1917. He continued to Leiden University, Netherlands
and obtained the degree Meester in de Rechten title in the field of law in 1933.
in the fight for Indonesian independence through several organizations such as Jong Java and the
Indonesian Students Association in the Netherlands, the Perhimpoenan Indonesia. In February 1927,
Soebardjo, Mohammad Hatta, and three other students represented Indonesia at the conferences of the League
against Imperialism in Brussels and later in Germany. At the founding congress in Brussels, Soebardjo and the
others met Jawaharlal Nehru and others nationalist leaders from Asia and Africa. Soebardjo even spent a couple
of months in Berlin and Moscow working for the International Secretariat of the League against Imperialism.
Upon return to Indonesia, he became an active member of BPUPKI.
On 19 August 1945, 2 days after the independence day 17 August 1945, Soekarno apppinted Soebardjo
as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Presidential Cabinet, Indonesia's first cabinet for 4 months and
immediately started the first Foreign Ministry office at his own residence in Jalan Cikini raya. Recruited only 10
immediate staff. Subardjo served as Minister of Foreign Affairs once again from 1951 to 1952 in Sukiman's
Cabinet. In addition, he also became the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesian in Switzerland between the
years 1957 and 1961.
 Soebardjo died at the age of 82 at Pertamina Hospital, Kebayoran Baru, because of flu complications.
He was buried at his vacation home in Cipayung, Bogor. In 2009 the government honoured him as a National
Hero.