Besar Mertokusumo (also spelled Besar Martokusumo; 8 July 1894 – 1980) was an Indonesian advocate, said by Daniel S. Lev to be the first.

Early life and education

Mertokusumo was born in Brebes,

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

on 8 July 1894 to a prosecutor and his wife; he was the first of two children. He attended elementary school at a Europeesche Lagere School in

Pekalongan Pekalongan () is a city of Central Java, Indonesia. It was formerly the seat of Pekalongan Regency on the northern coast of the province, but is now an independent municipality within the province. It covers a land area of 45.25 km2 and had a p ...

, graduating in 1909. He then attended the Rechtschool in Batavia, which he graduated in 1915; there, he lived with numerous other Indonesian students under the supervision of a Dutchwoman, studying criminal law. After several years as the Official Seconded () at the ''Landraad'' (state court) in Pekalongan, he received a grant to go to

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, Netherlands, to study at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

together with eleven others. He graduated in 1922.

Legal and political career

After being refused equal legal status with the Dutch, Mertokusumo decided to become an advocate. He later established a law firm in Tegal, not far from his family in Brebes; at the time, there were few Dutch lawyers there. Despite a lack of support from his family, after a few years he was able to open a second branch in

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

, attracting young lawyers to his firm with wages up to 600 gulden a month. During the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, occupied the Netherlands, and ma ...

, Mertokusumo served as the mayor of Tegal in April 1942; he was the first Native Indonesian mayor. In 1944 he became the regent of

Tegal Regency Tegal Regency ( Javanese:ꦏꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦠꦺꦒꦭ꧀) is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in the northwest corner of Central Java province of Indonesia, with an area of . The regency's administrative center used to be in Tegal C ...

. Towards the end of the Japanese occupation, he joined the Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence and became the Assistant Resident of Pekalongan. After independence, Mertokusumo served as secretary general of the Department of Justice. Mertokusumo died at age 86 on 23 February 1980. He is buried in Giritama Cemetery,

Bogor Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

Legacy

American scholar of Indonesia Daniel S. Lev has called Mertokusumo Indonesia's first advocate, noting that he often represented poor Indonesian defendants in the ''Landraad'', where they would be forced to sit on the floor. Lev writes that Mertokusumo "broke the ice" for Indonesian advocates. On 17 August 1992, Mertokusumo received the Bintang Mahaputra posthumously for his legal work.

Personal life

Mertokusumo was married to Raden Ayu Majatoen, with whom he had four children.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mertokusumo, Besar 1894 births 1980s deaths 20th-century Indonesian lawyers BPUPK Leiden University alumni People from Brebes Regency Year of death uncertain