Frans Kaisiepo was born to Albert Kaisiepo and Alberthina Maker, On Biak Island, 10 October

1921. Kaisiepo grew up in colonial education. His father was the Biak Numfor chief and
blacksmith.

In 1945, he was one of 150 Papuan sons who attended the Civil Service Quick Course in the City
of Nica (now Kampung Harapan), Hollandia. There, he met with Soegoro Atmoprasodjo, lecturer
and boarding director

Introductions with Soegoro led Kaisiepo to politics. In his mind, the future of Papua had been
hacked. While being jailed at Hollandia for designing a failed rebellion, Kaisiepo began to plunge
into the Papuan nationalist movement. Its position was at the intersection between Indonesia and
the Netherlands.

Kaisiepo's debut as a political figure began when he was a messenger at the Malino Conference.
On July 18, 1946, Kaisiepo played his role in Malino with enthusiasm. As a delegation from Papua,
Kaisiepo in fact did not always represent the interests of the Netherlands. He supports the Papua
region integrated into the State of East Indonesia (NIT). But Kaisiepo refused if Papua was under
the Maluku residence while he wanted the region to be led by Papuans themselves.

Kaisiepo also introduced the word Irian, which comes from the original Biak language. Irian means
“heat land” absorbed from the seafaring tradition of Biak. The word Irian then politicized
Indonesian nationalist groups in Papua as an acronym for "Ikut Indonesia Anti Nederlands".

Meanwhile, because of his actions in Malino, the Dutch government dismissed Kaisiepo. Kaisiepo
was silenced by being educated for five years at the School of Civil Service Education or
Opleidingsschool voor Inheemsche Bestuursambtenaren (OSIBA). On 1954 to 1961, he was
assigned in remote districts such as in Ransiki, Manokwari, Ayamu-Taminabuan, Sorong, and in
Mimika, Fak-fak.

When serving as the head of Mimika district in 1961, Frans Kaisiepo founded the Irian Sebagian
Indonesia (ISI) political party. The aim of this party is to demand the unification of Papua into the
Republic of Indonesia. In the same year, Trikora was echoed by President Sukarno.
In 1964, Kaisiepo was appointed as governor to replace Eliezer Jan Bonay - an anti-colonial figure
but also opposed the arbitrariness of the Indonesian government over the Papuan people and had
to lose his position, even be prisoned, and after being released he went too the Netherlands to
support the Free Papua Organization until his death in 1989.

During his leadership, Kaisiepo carried out a special mission: winning the Indonesia in the
determination of people's opinion (Pepera), which was set out in the New York Agreement in 1969.
He was also appointed as chairman of the West Irian People's Consultative Assembly aimed at
preparing the West Irian unification approach ahead of the Act.

Pepera won by the Indonesian government. In 1969, Frans Kaisiepo became an Indonesian
delegation which also witnessed the ratification of the Act of Free Choice results at the United
Nations headquarters in New York.

Frans married Anthomina Arwam and had three children. The couple remains together until
Arwam's death. On November 12, 1973, he married Maria Magdalena Moorwahyuni from Demak,
Central Java. They have one child together.

He was the governor of Irian province until 1973. After retiring, the central government pulled
Kaisiepo to Jakarta. He was seconded as a high-ranking employee of the Kementerian Dalam
Negeri. At the same time, he was appointed as a member of the Dewan Pertimbangan Agung
(DPA) until the end of his life in 1979. He was buried in his homeland, Biak, at the Taman Makam
Pahlawan Cenderawasih.

For his services, the Indonesian government bestowed him national hero status in 1993. His name
was also enshrined as one of the Navy warships, KRI Frans Kaisiepo (serial number 368) and
international airports on Biak Island. Finally, his portrait marks Indonesian currency in 2016 of
Rp. 10,000.