Wage Rudolf Supratman
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Wage Rudolf Soepratman (''Wage Soepratman'' in the old orthography, commonly known as W. R. Supratman; 9 March 1903 – 17 August 1938) was an Indonesian journalist and songwriter who wrote both the lyrics and melody of the
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
of Indonesia, " Indonesia Raya". He is an Indonesian national hero.


Biography

W.R. Soepratman's father was Sergeant Djoemeno Senen Sastrosoehardjo, a
KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its Dutch colonial empire, colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm ...
soldier, and his mother was Siti Senen. Soepratman was born Wage on 9 March 1903 in Jatinegara,
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
. Several months later, his father added Soepratman to his name and explained that he was born in
Meester Cornelis Jatinegara (originally known as Meester Cornelis or Meester/Mester for short) is one of the districts () of the administrative city of East Jakarta, Indonesia. The name also refers to the larger, historic area of the colonial town of Meester Corn ...
, Batavia. Soepratman was the seventh of nine children. His eldest sibling was Rukiyem Supratiyah van Eldik. At the age of 6, he entered Budi Utomo elementary school in Cimahi. After his father retired, Wage followed his sister Rukiyem to
Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...
, where he began attending a '' Europeesche Lagere School'' (ELS) in 1914. It was then when Rudolf was added to his name, so that his rights would be equal to the Dutch. However, he was asked to leave the school after it was revealed that he was not of European descent. He continued his studies in a Malay language school. After returning home, he learned to play guitar and violin. His brother-in-law, Willem Mauritius van Eldik, gave him a violin as a seventeenth birthday present in 1920. After graduating from Malay language school in 1917, Wage attended Dutch language courses and graduated in 1919. He continued to Normal School, or Teachers' College, and became an auxiliary teacher in Makassar after he graduated. In 1920, he and van Eldik founded a jazz-styled band, called Black & White. He played the violin. They performed at weddings and birthday parties in Makassar. Beginning in July 1933, Wage started to feel ill. In November 1933, he resigned as a journalist at Sin Po and settled first in Cimahi, then
Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...
, and finally in
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 ...
. On 17 August 1938, he died at 01.00 a.m. and was buried in Kenjeran, Surabaya. On 13 March 1956, his remains were moved to Tambak Segaran Wetan cemetery.


Indonesia Raya

Wage composed both the music and lyrics for the song " Indonesia Raya", which later became Indonesia's
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
. It was introduced during the Second Indonesian Youth Congress on 28 October 1928. The song was quickly adopted by
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 ...
's PNI. In 1929, the prominent Indonesian businessman and record executive
Tio Tek Hong Tio Tek Hong (1877–1965) was a colonial Indonesians, Indonesian businessman and record executive, best-remembered as a pioneer of the Indonesian Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings industry and as the founder of Toko Tio Tek Hon ...
contacted Supratman; the two agreed to issue the first records of the anthem with Supratman retaining its copyright. The new records were extremely popular, but in 1930 the Dutch colonial authorities placed a ban on the song and confiscated all remaining unsold records. The text was revised in November 1944, and the melody arranged to its present musical form in 1958.


Legacy

The government awarded Wage the National Hero title and the Bintang Mahaputra Utama kelas III in 1971. Several Indonesian cities and towns have named streets after Wage, usually referred to as Jalan WR Soepratman.


Personal life

Wage belonged to the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
. He was buried in a Muslim ceremony in Kapas Public Cemetery, Tambaksari, Surabaya.*


References

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Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Supratman, Wage Rudolf 1903 births 1938 deaths People from Purworejo Regency Indonesian composers National Heroes of Indonesia National anthem writers Indonesian Ahmadis Javanese people