Soetomo (born Soebroto; 30 July 1888 – 30 May 1938) was an Indonesian physician and nationalist. He was the co-founder of

Boedi Oetomo 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 ...

, the first native political society in the

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 ...

, and led the

Great Indonesia Party Parindra (, Parindra) was the name used by two Indonesian political parties. Pre-war party Establishment and early years The first Parindra was established at a congress in Solo from 24-26 December 1935 as a result of a merger between the Budi ...

(Parindra) from 1935 until his death. Soetomo was declared a national hero by President

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 ...

in 1961.

Biography

He was born in East Java, and went on to study medicine. While still studying, he was one of three founders of the

Javanese nationalist organisation. From 1919 to 1923, studied medicine at

Amsterdam University The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlands still in operati ...

and later married a Dutch woman. After returning from the Netherlands, he worked as a doctor in Sumatra and

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 ...

. He also established a number of "study clubs" to raise awareness of nationalism. In 1935, he was one of the founders of Parindra, and led it until his death. After his death he was named a

National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia () is the highest-level Orders, decorations, and medals of Indonesia, title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual de ...

References

{{Authority control National Heroes of Indonesia 1888 births 1938 deaths Physicians from the Dutch East Indies