Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto (16 August 1882 – 17 December 1934), better known in Indonesia as H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, was an Indonesian

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

. He became one of the leaders of the Islamic Trade Union (), founded by Samanhudi, which became

Sarekat Islam Sarekat Islam or Syarikat Islam ( 'Islamic Association' or 'Islamic Union'; SI) was an Indonesian socio-political organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century during the Dutch colonial era. Initially, SI served as a cooperative of ...

, which they both cofounded.

Early life

Tjokroaminoto was born the second of twelve children, in the

Ponorogo Regency Ponorogo Regency (; ) is an inland Regency (Indonesia), regency () of East Java Province of Indonesia. It is considered the birthplace of Reog, Reog Ponorogo, a traditional Indonesian dance form. The regency covers an area of , and it had a popu ...

as the son of RM. Tjokroaminoto (district chief of Kleco), grandson of RMA. Tjokronegoro (regent of the Ponorogo Regency), and great-grandson of Kyai Bagus Kasan Besari of Tegalsari ''pesantren''. According to his genealogy, his education was directed towards civil service. After graduating in 1902 from OSVIA (), a school for indigenous civil servants, in

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...

, the then-highest civil servant education institution, he worked as one in Ngawi for three years from 1902 to 1905). He moved to

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

, where he met Samanhudi, founder and leader of the Islamic Trade Unions (SDI). At night, he attended ''Burgerlijke Avond School'' (BAS) for some years. After graduating, he worked in a

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

(1907–1912). He wrote for the ''Bintang Soerabaja'' (''Surabaya Star'') daily and became a staff assistant. Known as the "Crownless King of Java" () by the Dutch, Tjokroaminoto was one of the pioneers of the trade union movement in Indonesia and was a teacher of some of the most well-known leaders of Indonesia. His political ideas also gave birth to various ideologies of Indonesia at that time, when he tutored students in his household, such as Semaoen, Alimin, Musso,

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

, Kartosuwiryo, and even

Tan Malaka Ibrahim Simabua Datuak (posthumous) Sutan Malaka also known as Tan Malaka (2 June 1897 – 21 February 1949) was an Indonesian statesman, teacher, Marxism, Marxist, Philosophy, philosopher, founder of Struggle Union (Persatuan Perjuangan) and Murb ...

. He was the first to refuse to submit to the Netherlands. After he died, the colors of the Indonesian movement were developed by his students, the

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

and

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

embraced by Semaoen, Musso, and Alimin. One of his most famous quotes was "Highest education, purest '' tauhid'', smartest of strategies" (), depicting the atmosphere of Indonesian struggle in its time which required the three aforementioned abilities of a freedom fighter. Of the various students he liked most was Sukarno until he married Sukarno with his daughter Siti Oetari, Sukarno's first wife. His message to his disciples was "If you want to be a great Leader, write like a journalist and talk like an orator". These words influenced his disciples to make Sukarno shout every night to learn the speeches to make his friends, Musso, Alimin, SM Kartosuwiryo, Darsono, and others wake up and laugh to watch it.

Formation of Islamic unions

Sarekat Dagang Islam

Samanhudi had founded Sarekat Dagang Islam (SDI) or the Islamic Trade Union, in late 1905, in

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

. Tjokroaminoto was asked to prepare the needed regulations for the organization and to handle the management. The

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

was prepared and notarized in Surabaya on 10 September 1906.

Sarekat Islam

At Tjokroaminoto's suggestion, the word ''trade'' () in the organization's name was removed and SDI became

(SI) or the Islamic Union. Its chairman was H. Samanhudi, while Tjokroaminoto became

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

. A few days later, its statute was sent to the Governor-General to be legalized as a legal institution. A central committee was formed with Samanhudi as chairman and Tjokroaminoto as vice-chairman. In explaining the organization's aim, Tjokroaminoto stated that SI would not oppose the Dutch East Indies government. For the organization's interest, he and other managers went to the then Governor-General Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg on 29 March 1913. Idenburg stated that for public importance (), SI's legalization couldn't be granted, but local Islamic unions can be granted corporate-body status. The membership of SI rapidly increased, to about two and a half million.

Centraal Sarekat Islam

Because of the rapid development of local Islamic unions, it was necessary to establish a central Islamic union coordinating them. In 1915, the Central Islamic Union, or Centraal Sarekat Islam (CSI) was founded with Tjokroaminoto as its chairman, Abdoel Moeis as vice-chairman, and

Samanhoedi Hadji Samanhudi (1868 – 28 December 1956) was the founder of Sarekat Dagang Islam, an organization in Indonesia that previously served as an association for batik traders in Surakarta, and later broadened its scope to nationalist political ...

as honorary chairman. Since then, Tjokroaminoto was continuously chairman or a member of the SI board of administration until his death. The first CSI national congress, simultaneously being the third SI congress, during his chairmanship was held in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

in June 1916. The usage of the word ''national'' signified the issue Tjokroaminoto had voiced, which was the necessity of unity of all Indonesians. SI gained acknowledgment of its power with the inauguration of Tjokroaminoto and Abdoel Moeis as members of the newly opened '' Volksraad'' in 1918. SI under Tjokroaminoto progressed, but inner opposition arose, while the colonial government's trust decreased. The hardest challenge came from the Marxist/

Leninist Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

faction led by Semaun, who faced off against Tjokroaminoto. Eventually, the Marxist–Leninist faction broke off and formed SI-Merah ("Red-SI"), which later joined the

Communist Party of Indonesia The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its Indo ...

. In 1921, Tjokroaminoto was arrested for the charge of assassination by SI-afd. B in Cimareme, Garut,

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

. He was released around 9 months later without trial in August 1922.

Partai Sarekat Islam

CSI became weak, and its name was changed to Partai Sarekat Islam (PSI) or the Islamic Union Party in February 1923. Tjokroaminoto made an effort to unite the outer Javanese groups. After

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

attacks were sent, insurgency broke out wherever, until he and Abdoel Moeis were forbidden to visit some areas. At that time, Pan-Islamism was launched. Tjokroaminoto and

Mas Mansoer Mas Mansoer ( EYD: Mas Mansur; 25 June 1896 – 25 April 1946) was an Indonesian religious leader who served as the 4th chairman of Muhammadiyah from 1937 to 1942. He was declared a national hero by President Sukarno in 1964. Biography Mas ...

performed

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

. The political suggestion of ''hijra'' or "migration" with the non-cooperative attitude toward the colonial government was eventually accepted by Congress, which caused Tjokroaminoto's refusal when he was elected as ''Volksraads member in 1927. The Ulema Committee was founded to discuss Tjokroaminoto's controversial

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

ic interpretations in 1928.

Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia

Later the PSI was changed to the Indonesian Islamic Union Party or Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia (PSII) in early 1929. There was a confrontation between the nationalist Soekiman and the religious Tjokroaminoto that led to Soekiman's departure to form a new party, the Indonesian Islamic Party or Partai Islam Indonesia.

Death

After the 20th PSII Congress in

Banjarmasin Banjarmasin is the largest city in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It was the capital of the province until 15 February 2022. The city is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. Historically the centre of t ...

in May 1934, Tjokroaminoto became sick and died in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

on 17 December 1934. His position in PSII was succeeded by his brother Abikusno Tjokrosujoso.

In popular culture

A film titled ''Teacher of the Nation: Tjokroaminoto'' () was made about Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto. The film, produced in 2015, was directed by

Garin Nugroho Garin Nugroho Riyanto (born 6 June 1961) is an Indonesian film director. Biography Nugroho was born in Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta on 6 June 1961. He was the fourth child of postal workers Soetjipto Amin and Mariah, who eventually ...

, with the main character as Reza Rahardian.