Indonesian National Hero – Before becoming independent and sovereign as it is now, Indonesia had a long history. The comfort and well-being that we feel now as citizens are not given for free. There is a role for the national heroes there who fought for the Indonesian nation against colonialism and injustice.
Our nation was brought up by history, that is why as a nation’s generation we should interpret history as a life lesson to be better. From the events of Indonesian history, we can learn many things from the national heroes for their dedication and courage to fight for the Indonesian nation.
Being named a national hero is certainly not a random thing. These national heroes must be great people and have contributed greatly to the independence of the Indonesian nation. Getting to know national heroes means learning to interpret history and respecting their services and struggles in the past.
This should indeed be done by the nation’s generation as good citizens because the nation’s future is in our hands. An extraordinary nation is those who respect and can learn from history or their past to move forward. The following is a list of Indonesian national heroes that Sinaumed’s needs to know about in order to emulate their dedication to the nation.
List of Indonesian National Heroes
1. Ir. Sukarno
Ir. Soekarno or also familiarly called Bung Karno was the first President of the Republic of Indonesia who was born on June 6, 1901 in Surabaya. Sinaumed’s is surely no stranger to this one of our national heroes. The proclaimer had a very important role for Indonesian independence even long before Indonesia was independent. Soekarno has struggled since he was only 14 years old by joining the Jong Java youth organization while studying at the Hogere Burger School (HBS) Surabaya.
In his struggle, Soekarno was even imprisoned many times. On December 29, 1929 he was thrown into Banceuy prison for actively carrying out a resistance movement by establishing an intellectual study group called ASC and forming the Indonesian National Party (PNI). He was finally transferred to Sukamiskin Prison and released on December 31, 1931.
He was also one of the figures who sparked the foundation of the Indonesian state that we use today, namely Pancasila. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
2. Mohammad Hatta
Mohammad Hatta or who is also familiarly called Bung Hatta was the first vice president of Indonesia who had an important role in the proclamation of Indonesian independence. The proclaimer was born in Bukittinggi on August 12, 1902. Bung Hatta was an intellectual statesman who accompanied Ir. Sukarno fought for Indonesian independence from the Dutch colony. He was known as an activist and organizer while studying in the Netherlands.
Mohammad Hatta fought a lot against the Dutch through writings published in newspapers or magazines. Because of the critical writings, Mohammad Hatta was exiled by the colonial government to Boven Digul, which is located in Irian, an exile area. The ideas in his writings about Indonesian independence are very sharp and can arouse the enthusiasm of the nation’s youth to fight against Dutch injustice.
Mohammad Hatta contributed many great ideas to build the Indonesian nation. For example, the thoughts on Indonesian democracy in 1928-1960 and he was even called the father of cooperatives because he was the figure who first introduced this idea. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
3. Bung Tomo
Sutomo or who is also familiarly called Bung Tomo is a national hero who was born on October 3, 1920 in Surabaya and grew up in a family that really valued education. Bung Tomo played an important role in the battle in Surabaya on 10 November 1945 which we now commemorate as Heroes’ Day. Bung Tomo’s most popular motto to date is “Freedom or Death” has become the spirit of the nation to this day.
The bloody battle in Suraya became an important event in the history of the Indonesian nation. Not only critical of the Dutch government, Bung Tomo also criticized the leadership of Soekarno and Suharto. He was even detained for a year in 1978 because of his criticism of Suharto.
Bung Tomo is a journalist from Surabaya who is brave and critical with his skill in language and the brilliance of his ideas. From the age of 18 to 25 he has been involved in various media, namely Ekspres and Berita Antara. Sinaumed’s can find details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
4. Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka or full name Sutan Ibrahim is a national hero who played an important role in Indonesia’s independence, but many people don’t know him. Even though his name is legendary, even his life story has been researched by a Dutch historian named Harry Albert Poeze for decades.
During his lifetime, Tan Malaka lived a nomadic life from one country to another, including Russia. It was there that Tan Malaka became a member of the Comintern (member of the communist International). Many of Tan Malaka’s thoughts pioneered the founding of the Indonesian nation, for example contained in one of his greatest works entitled Madilog.
Tan Malaka is considered to be the mastermind of the 3 July 1946 incident during the revolutionary period which opposed the results of Indonesia’s negotiations with the Netherlands. He demanded that the Republic of Indonesia be 100 percent independent and he was also involved in a united struggle with General Sudirman.
His work in the world of politics was marked when he founded the Many People’s Consultative Party (Murba), which participated in the 1955 election, but the government suspended the next election in 1965. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
5. Sukarni Kartodiwirjo
Sukarni Kartodiwirjo is a national hero from East Java who played an important role behind the history of the proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945. In this historic event, Sukarni represented a group of young people to pressure Soekarno and Moh. Hatta immediately proclaimed independence. It was he and other youths who kidnapped the two leaders to Rengasdengklok, West Java to quickly compile the text of the proclamation.
The national hero appointed by Jokowi in 2014 was born in Blitar on July 14 1916 and grew up as a person who really hated the Dutch. He even has a special record of his fights with Dutch children. Since he was 14 years old, Sukarni has joined the Indonesian youth association organization. Since then he has grown into a critical and courageous figure.
His meeting with Tan Malaka made Sukarni’s figure more revolutionary towards the nation’s struggle. Sukarni was a young warrior spirit at that time. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
6. Ki Hadjar Dewantara
Ki Hajar Dewantara or whose full name is Raden Soewardi Soerjaningrat is a national hero who came from a noble royal family and became an activist for the independence movement. He is a hero who has an important role in building the nation so that he is called the father of Indonesian education. He was the first Indonesian minister of education and culture to establish a school called the Taman Siswa National College or what we know today as Taman Siswa.
Ki Hajar Dewantara was born on May 2, 1889 in Yogyakarta, which we now commemorate as Education Day. Previously he was a critical writer and journalist so he became a national activist. That is what made him aware of fighting colonialism with his thoughts in the world of education.
His most popular motto to date, namely Ing ngarso sung tuladha, ing madya mangun karsa, tut wuri handayani, continues to be the nation’s spirit to be better in the field of education. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
7. Prince Diponegoro
Prince Diponegoro is a national hero from Java who was born on November 11, 1785 in the Yogyakarta Sultanate and died in Makassar, which was then still the Dutch East Indies on January 8, 1855. He was an important figure in the Diponegoro War or the Javanese war against the Dutch East Indies colonialists from 1825 to 1830. This war was the war that claimed the most victims in the history of the struggle of the Indonesian people.
The Java War has become a historical pattern for the Indonesian people for their struggle against the invaders. During this war, Prince Diponegoro proclaimed a struggle against the infidels. Prince Diponegoro’s appeal was very influential even to the Kedu and Pacitan regions. It was from here that he began to influence the nation’s fighters from various regions, such as the Gagatan area.
Prince Diponegoro in the family grew up as someone who was interested in religion and the common people. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
8. RA Kartini
Raden Ajeng (RA) Kartini is one of the female national heroes who contributed to the struggle of the Indonesian nation. He was born on April 21, 1879 in Jepara which then we now commemorate that day as Kartini Day.
Kartini has an important role in the thoughts of building the Indonesian nation, namely her struggle for Indonesian women to gain more meaningful space than before. The Emancipation of Women that Kartini fought for is invaluable to this day.
Kartini’s thoughts were written in the letters she wrote to her friends in the Netherlands. Then these writings were compiled into a book with the title Door Duisternis Tot Licht , whose translation is currently popular with the title From Darkness to Light which was first published in 1911.
She met her ideas about women’s rights in her aristocratic family, which still restricted women a lot. Sinaumed’s can find biographical details in one of the book collections at www.sinaumedia.com below.
9. Cut Nyak Dien
Cut Nyak Dien is a female national hero born in 1848 from Aceh who was most feared by the Dutch. He began to be active against the Dutch since the death of his husband, Teuku Cek Ibrahim and vowed to destroy the Netherlands. After he finally remarried with Teuku Umar and together against the Dutch guerrilla. They succeeded in attacking and pushing the Dutch in Banda Aceh (Kutaraja) and Meulaboh.
Cut Nyak Dien was a representative hero from the Aceh sultanate during the reign of Iskandar Muda in Pariaman. She is famous as a heroine who is very tough against the Dutch colonialists at that time. In fact, he still did not give up against the Dutch even though his husband, Teuku Umar was caught. He continued to fight with his troops until 1901.
Finally Cut Nyak Dien was caught by the Dutch in Beutong Lhee Sagoe because previously he and his troops had fought against the Dutch in a guerrilla manner. However, their headquarters became known to the Dutch because Pang Laot’s betrayal of Cut Nyak Dien’s men told their headquarters to the Dutch.
10. Martha Christina Tiahahu
Martha Christina Tiahahu is a female national hero who is the daughter of Kapitan Paulus Tiahahu who helped Kapitan Pattimura against the Dutch in 1917. From the age of 17, Martha already knew her father’s plans against the Dutch. He really wanted to join his father in fighting against the colonial government at that time, even though his father forbade it.
However, in the end Martha still participated in the biggest resistance of the Moluccas against the Dutch. In addition, Martha was also involved in the battles in the Ulat and Ouw areas, Saparua which claimed many victims, both civilians and Dutch soldiers. Martha survived the battle thanks to her shrewdness in holding a spear while fighting.
He also died after refusing to eat and fell ill when the Dutch ship that caught him wanted to take him to Java. Martha Christina Tiahahu is the youngest female national hero among other figures.
Summary of the List of Indonesian National Heroes
So, those are some lists of national heroes who inspire the Indonesian people. From the list above, is there anything that Sinaumed’s doesn’t know yet? Actually there are many more Indonesian national heroes who inspire, the list above is only a part of it. From the list of heroes above, is Sinaumed’s now aware that in fact we have great people who have built this nation.
As Indonesian citizens, we should be proud and grateful to be in a nation that is growing well thanks to the inspiring people behind it. Maybe when we were at school we felt bored studying history, including getting to know these national heroes. However, Sinaumed’s needs to know that their stories can be used as examples as well as a source of inspiration, for example we don’t give up easily, help each other, respect each other, and other positive values.
That is why we need to get used to history as early as possible. Even though history lessons seem serious and stiff, Sinaumed’s doesn’t need to worry because sinaumedia as #SahabatUnlimits has a collection of history books for children that are interesting and easy to understand.
This history book will be very helpful, especially for children, to get to know and learn Indonesian history through a hero. It is also able to give them motivation and positive values that are easy to understand. You can see a complete collection of books for children’s history in the following national heroes series, here.
Hope it is useful!