Samsi Sastrawidagda (13 March 1894 – 1963) was an Indonesian politician who was the first

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

of Indonesia, serving for just under one month in September 1945. He was also one of the founders of the

Indonesian National Party The Indonesian National Party (, PNI) was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until 1973. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, the new PNI supplied a number of pri ...

Early life and education

He was born 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 ...

on 13 March 1894. He was a graduate of a ''

Hollandsch-Inlandsche School Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS) (Dutch school for natives) was a school during the Dutch East Indies, Dutch colonial era in Indonesia. The school, was first established in 1914, following with the enactment of the Dutch Ethical Policy. The scho ...

'' and went to the Netherlands in 1913 with a scholarship from

Budi Utomo Budi Utomo ( old spelling: ''Boedi Oetomo'', meaning "Noble Endeavour") was an early native nationalist political society in the Dutch East Indies. The organization's founding in 1908 is considered instrumental to the beginning of the Indonesian ...

, graduating from a teachers' training school. He continued his studies at the Rotterdam Trade School, graduating with his dissertation ''De Ontwikkeling v.d handels politik van Japan'' (The Development of the Trade Politics of Japan). In the Netherlands, he was recruited to teach Javanese and Malay. He also travelled to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in 1925 with

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first Vice President of Indonesia, vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as ...

to study

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

business there.

Career

After returning to Indonesia, Samsi was one of the founders of the

(PNI) on 4 July 1927, along with

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 ...

Sartono Sartono (5 August 1900 – 15 October 1968) was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who served as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), speaker of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), House of Representatives (DPR) ...

, and Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo among others. He was appointed as party commissioner. During this period, Samsi worked 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 ...

, where he leased the veranda of Sukarno's home for use as his accountant's office. Later, 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 ...

after the arrest of many nationalists and the disbandment of PNI, and there he joined

Partindo The Indonesia Party (), better known as Partindo, was a nationalist political party in Indonesia that existed before independence and was revived in 1957 as a leftist party. Pre-independence party In 1927, future Indonesian president Sukarno esta ...

. Prior to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia in 1942, Samsi was considered by the Japanese as a potential

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

ist which would aid the invasion, though such efforts ended up unnecessary. During the occupation, he was a member of the Japanese-established

Central Advisory Council The was the name given to bodies established by the Japanese military administration in Java and Sumatra in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies to notionally provide Indonesians with popular representation. Background I ...

and labor organization , in addition to being an adviser to the Finance Department of the occupation government. He was also appointed as a member of the

Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence The Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (, abbreviated as BPUPK; , Hepburn: , Nihon-shiki / Kunrei-shiki: ), sometimes referred to, but better known locally, as the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Indo ...

(BPUPK). Following the

proclamation of Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...

, Samsi was appointed as the Finance Minister in the first Indonesian cabinet. During his brief tenure, Samsi attempted to raise funds for the new government by accessing leftover funds from the previous Dutch East Indies government seized by the Japanese following the invasion. One such source was a bank in Surabaya, and obtaining it was made possible due to Samsi's close connections with Japanese military officers. A "robbery" was arranged in order to hide the Japanese officers' involvement. The act raised money for both the central republican government and for the local militia units in Surabaya. He resigned for health reasons on 26 September 1945 and was replaced by

Alexander Andries Maramis Alexander Andries Maramis (20 June 1897 – 31 July 1977), more commonly known simply as A. A. Maramis, was an Indonesian politician and National Hero of Indonesia, who was involved in the struggle for independence. He was a member of the Investi ...

. Samsi served in the ministerial post from 2 to 26 September 1945. He died in 1963.

References

{{Members of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence 1894 births 1963 deaths BPUPK Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Ministers of finance of Indonesia Indonesian National Party politicians Members of the Central Advisory Council People from Surakarta Politicians from Central Java