Achmad Soebardjo
Achmad Soebardjo Djojoadisoerjo was an Indonesian diplomat, lawyer, and statesman. He served as the first foreign minister of Indonesia in 1945 shortly after the proclamation of Indonesian independence, and again in 1951–1952 within the Soekiman Cabinet.
Achmad Soebardjo was born Abdul Manaf in Teluk Jambe, Karawang Regency, West Java, on 23 March 1896. He was the youngest of four children. His father, Teuku Muhammad Yusuf, descended from Acehnese aristocracy in Pidie and worked as a police officer in Teluk Jambe. His mother, Wardinah, was of Javanese–Bugis descent with Wardinah's father being a camat (district head) in Cirebon. Manaf's name was changed to Achmad Soebardjo during his childhood – Soebardjo[a] originating from a suggestion by his father's friend while Achmad was added by his grandfather. Soebardjo later added "Djojoadisurjo" as a surname, in a 1977 interview claiming that he heard a voice telling him to do so while urinating during his imprisonment after the 3 July affair in 1946. He began his studies at the Europeesche Lagere School (ELS) of Batavia, a mixed school containing Dutch, Chinese, Arabic, and Native Indonesians. According to Soebardjo, his Dutch principal at ELS considered Native Indonesians to be mentally inferior and "only fit for unskilled labor", which motivated Soebardjo to pursue higher education and pushed him towards nationalism. After ELS, he went to a Hogere Burgerschool (middle school) from which he graduated in 1917. He began to participate in the burgeoning Indonesian nationalist movement after 1917, joining youth organization Jong Java (then named Tri Koro Dharmo) before departing for the Netherlands to study law at Leiden University in 1919.
Soebardjo completed his studies at Leiden in 1922 and received a bachelor's degree, and during this time he had chaired the Indische Vereeniging (Indies' Association, later Perhimpunan Indonesia) student association between 1919 and 1921. He pushed for the association to adopt the red and white flag as a symbol. He briefly returned to Indonesia in 1922, but returned to Leiden that same year to pursue a master's degree, later commenting that "his grandfather was embarassed to have [Soebardjo] without a title". He was more politically active in his second period in the Netherlands, and frequently travelled across Europe including to Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and France. In February 1927, Soebardjo took part in the League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression's founding congress in Brussels. Aside from Perhimpunan Indonesia, he also represented the Cairo branch of the Jamiat Kheir. While other Indonesian delegates returned to the Netherlands after the congress, Soebardjo moved to Berlin for a time and befriended the Indian revolutionary Virendranath Chattopadhyaya. While Soebardjo was in Berlin, Indonesian student leaders in the Netherlands such as Mohammad Hatta and Ali Sastroamidjojo faced widespread arrests. Soebardjo, who often used his birth name Abdul Manaf in registrations, evaded capture. He would briefly take over leadership of Perhimpunan Indonesia in this time, and attended another congress of the League in mid-1927. In November 1927, Soebarjo also travelled to Moscow following an invitation to attend the tenth anniversary of the Soviet Union. During his visit in Moscow, he met Shakib Arslan, Georgy Chicherin, and Alexandra Kollontai.
Upon his return to Indonesia, Soebardjo was appointed as a lawyer at the colonial court in Surabaya after the Dutch East Indies government received assurances that he would not take part in politics. Initially, he worked at the law office of Sastromoeljono before joining the law office of Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo, and by 1935 the firm had offices in Kediri and Banjarmasin. As a lawyer, one of Soebardjo's cases involved defending a newly published nationalist magazine, Soeara Madoera, which was censured in 1934 after calling for armed resistance against the colonial government. He separated from Iskaq in 1935 and founded another firm in Malang, but the firm was unsuccessful. Throughout most of 1936, Soebardjo worked a stint as a correspondent for the Semarang-based newspaper Matahari and he stayed for twelve months in Japan. During his stay there, he was introduced to Japanese military officials especially that of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Raden Soedjono, a relative who was professor of Malay at Tokyo University and a fellow Leiden alumni. In Soebardjo's later recollections, he wrote of his awestruck reaction to the modern development of Tokyo. While there, he would also lead a delegation of Indonesian nationalists from Parindra as a guide.
Leadup to the proclamation
By 1945, Japanese reversals in the war had led its government to move to enlist increased Indonesian support through allowing more nationalist activities and promising independence. Soebardjo was appointed to the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPKI), and within it he became a member of the nine-man subcommittee (Panitia Sembilan) tasked with initial drafts for the Constitution of Indonesia. In his autobiography, Soebardjo claimed that he proposed the inclusion of national self-determination and anti-colonial messaging to the preamble of the constitution, becoming the preamble's first paragraph. Soebardjo would also join a nineteen-man committee which drafted the full constitution. Prior to BPUPKI's founding, Soebardjo had been part of a seven-man group led by Soepomo which drafted a provisional constitution in 1942.
PPKI and ministership
On 18 August, Soebardjo joined the PPKI as a full member, with the group's members increasing from 21 to 27. During the PPKI meeting that day, Soebardjo proposed that a constitutional amendment could be done with a simple majority vote, but his proposal was defeated in a 16–11 vote and instead a two thirds vote requirement was adopted. In the following meeting on 19 August, Soebardjo along with Kasman Singodimedjo and Soetardjo Kartohadikusumo formed a subcommittee to draft the cabinet structure of the government, eventually settling at twelve departments. On 22 August, the PPKI voted to set up a Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) with 137 members, and PPKI was dissolved on 27 August.
Coup attempt and prison
By mid-1946, Sjahrir's policy of negotiations with the Dutch had led to a developing opposition, which Soebardjo was a member of. The group organized a kidnapping of Sjahrir, which was conducted at night on 27 June. Soebardjo, together with Mohammad Yamin and Chaerul Saleh, drafted a four-point demand to Sukarno, which included the dismissal of Sjahrir and appointment of a new cabinet largely resembling the September 1945 cabinet. Sukarno met with the coup leaders on 3 July, immediately rejecting their demands, with the group's military leader Sudarsono being dismissed from the military. Soebardjo was arrested for his role in the affair, and was imprisoned pending his trial. He was found guilty at the trial in May 1948 and was sentenced to three years in prison, although he received an amnesty from Sukarno on 17 August 1948. During his imprisonment, Dutch military movements resulted in him being relocated across several prisons. He would be captured just months after his amnesty by the Dutch in Yogyakarta following Operation Kraai, again being imprisoned until 1949.
Second ministership
On 26 April 1951, Soekiman Wirjosandjojo appointed Soebardjo as foreign minister in his cabinet. During this time, Soebardjo was politically a member of the Masyumi Party. Shortly after he was sworn in, Soebardjo stated that Indonesian foreign policy under his ministry "would not fundamentally change". As foreign minister, Soebardjo declared Indonesia's opposition to the United Nations embargo against China, stating that Indonesia would "sell to the Devil if this would serve the people's interest" on 7 May 1951. While this position was popular domestically, the cabinet would reverse this position by 16 May due to strong international pressure.
In Switzerland
After his second term, Soebardjo resumed his role as a foreign ministry advisor, and served as ADLN's director in 1953–1954. Until July 1957, he also served as head of the ministry's directorate for the Americas. Soebardjo was then appointed as Indonesia's ambassador to Switzerland, and presented his credentials in September 1957. Previously the mission was a legation headed by chargé d'affaires Raden Panji Subechi, and Soebardjo would serve in this posting until 8 May 1961. The PRRI rebellion in Indonesia broke out during this term, and Indonesian ambassador to Italy Sutan Mohammad Rasjid [id] resigned from his post to join the revolt. Rasjid received political asylum in Switzerland, and Soebardjo lodged a "half-hearted" protest in December 1958 when Rasjid began fundraising for PRRI from Switzerland. The Swiss federal government noted that this protest was issued as manner of form, and assessed Soebardjo as also being sympathetic for the PRRI's cause.
After his return from Switzerland, Soebardjo joined the Supreme Advisory Council where he sat until 1965. He also continued to work with the foreign ministry as an advisor until his retirement in 1968. He lectured for a time at the University of Indonesia's history department and in 1974 became part of a five-man commission (containing him, Hatta, A. A. Maramis, A. G. Pringgodigdo, and Soenario) tasked by president Suharto to compose the history of Pancasila. He was also chair of the Indonesian Institute for International Affairs (Lembaga Indonesia untuk Urusan-Urusan Internasional), and in 1978 he attended a special session of the United Nations on disarmament in this capacity. He wrote two autobiographies, published in 1972 and 1978. He died on 15 December 1978 at the Pertamina Central Hospital, Jakarta due to a complications from a flu. Soebardjo was buried in a military funeral led by former armed forces commander Maraden Panggabean at the front yard of his villa in Cipayung, Bogor Regency.
Contemporaries and historians described Soebardjo as a complex politician. American OSS intelligence officer Paul Kattenburg in his 1946 report described Soebarjo as "an ambitious nationalist". Hubertus van Mook, the Dutch governor-general of Indonesia during the revolution, disparagingly referred to Soebardjo as "a weak and dark figure [...] with one leg in every group". Several historians, Indonesian and foreign, described Soebardjo as a non-ideologue. Contemporary nationalist B.M. Diah noted Soebardjo's unwavering commitment to the nationalist cause. He had received the Star of Mahaputera, 2nd Class in 1973, and was posthumously awarded the Star of the Republic of Indonesia in 1992. On 6 November 2009, he was declared a National Hero of Indonesia by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. As of 2025, there have been calls by culturalists from Soebardjo's hometown at Karawang to name roads or government buildings in his honor. A building at the Foreign Affairs Ministry's training complex is named after him.
Soebardjo spoke nine languages, including French, German, Greek, and Latin. He was a fan of classical music, a violin player, and a cigar smoker. Subadio Sastrosatomo [id] described Soebardjo as a bohemian. Shortly after his return to Indonesia in 1934, Soebardjo married Raden Ayu Poedji Astuti, a daughter of the regent of Kebumen. The couple had two daughters and three sons. Astuti was buried next to Soebardjo upon her death.
