Portal:Indonesia/Selected biography/10

Soedjatmoko (1922–89) was an Indonesian intellectual and diplomat. Born to a noble family in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra, he first studied medicine, but was expelled by the Japanese in 1943 for his political activities. In 1947 Soedjatmoko was deployed to Lake Success, New York, to represent the newly-formed Indonesia at the United Nations. Afterwards, Soedjatmoko attempted to study at Harvard's Littauer Center for Public Administration but quit. By 1952 he had returned to Indonesia and become involved in the socialist movement. As President Sukarno's government became more authoritarian Soedjatmoko began to criticise the government. To avoid censorship, he left the country. In 1968, having returned to working for the government, he became Indonesia's ambassador to the US. In 1978 Soedjatmoko received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, and in 1980 he was chosen as rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo. (Read more...)