Sukarno (or Soekarno), was born as Kusno Sosrodihardjo (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970). He was the first President of Indonesia (from 1945 to 1967).

Sukarno was the leader of Indonesia’s struggle for independence from the Netherlands.

Indonesians also remember him as Bung Karno or Pak Karno. Like many old Javanese people, he had only one name. In religious contexts, he was occasionally referred to as “Achmed Sukarno”. In some other occasions, he referred as “Sukarno Sukarno”. The name Soekarno means “Good Karna” in Javanese.

Background
Sukarno’s father, an aristocrat named Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjoa was Javanese primary school teacher.  His mother, named Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai was Balinese Brahman caste from Buleleng regency. Sukarno was born at Jl. Pandean IV / 40 Surabaya, East Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Following Javanese custom, he was renamed after surviving a childhood illness. After graduating from a native primary school in 1912, he was sent to Europeesche Lagere School (Dutch-medium junior secondary school) in Mojokerto. When his father sent him to Surabaya in 1916 to attend a Hogere Burger School (Dutch-medium secondary school), he met Tjokroaminoto, a nationalist and founder of Sarekat Islam, the owner of the boarding house where he lived. In 1920, Sukarno married Tjokroaminoto’s daughter Siti Oetari. In 1921 he began to study at the Technische Hogeschool (Technical Institute) in Bandung. He studied civil engineering and focused on architecture. In Bandung, Sukarno became romantically involved with Inggit Garnasih, the wife of Sanoesi, the boarding house owner where he lived as student. Inggit was 13 years older than Sukarno. On March 1923, Sukarno divorced Siti Oetari to marry Inggit (who also divorced her husband Sanoesi). And later on Soekarno also divorced Inggit and married Fatmawati. Continue reading “Soekarno” »