User:Asterbal/Wilopo

Wilopo (21 October 1909 – 1 June 1981) was an Indonesian politician, who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Indonesia, from April 1952 until his cabinet's dissolution – as a result of the 17 October 1952 affair, due to dissatisfaction among the military with the prolonged debate in parliament – in July 1953.

Early life
Wilopo was born in Purworejo, on October 21, 1909. He was born to modest family in Central Java. His father was man named Soedjono Soerodirjo, but he was raised by his uncle, a man known as Mantri Guru Prawirodiharjo. He wouldn't know of his real father until he reached adulthood. When he was eight years old, he and his family had to moved to Loano which is five kilometers from Purworejo. They returned to Purworejo when he was in sixth grade.

Education
Wilopo attended the Holland Inlandse School (HIS). He could have continued education at the Europese Hogere School (ELS), but he didn't because he wanted to continue his education at the Opleiding School Voor Inlandsche Ambtenaren (OSVIA). After graduating from HIS, Wilopo continued his education to the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) in Magelang.

After studying at MULO, Wilopo continued his education at Algemene Middelbare School (AMS), in Yogyakarta. At AMS, Wilopo took part in exact sciences and physics. He received a scholarship to make ends meet during his life in Yogyakarta. During his saty in Yogyakarta, he enjoyed reading newsletters of the De Locomotief, Darmo Kondo and Soeara Oemoem newspapers. Through this, he found the name of Sukarno (future President of Indonesia). Wilopo also joined the Jong Java youth organization around this time.

He continued his education at the Technischeh Hoge School (THS) in Bandung. There, Wilopo lived in a the Prawirosentiko family's house. After some illnesses, he moved to Sukabumi, living in his cousin's house. There, he became a teacher at the Taman Siswa.

He moved to Jakarta and continued his studies at the Rechts Hoge School (RHS). During this time, he lived at the house of Abdul Rasyid, a friend of his from MULO.

Minister of Labour
Wilopo's first government position was as the Junior Minister of Labour during the First and Second Amir Sjarifuddin Cabinets from 3 July 1947 to 29 January 1948. After a brief hiatus, he became the Minister of Labour during the Republic of the United States of Indonesia Cabinet from 20 December 1949 to 6 September 1950; he was later the Minister of Trade and Industry during the Sukiman Cabinet.

Prime Minister of Indonesia
After completing his tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry, on 19 March 1952, Wilopo was told to choose a cabinet to lead. Three days after giving his list to President Sukarno, on 1 April he and his cabinet took power; it was essentially a coalition of necessity between the Masyumi and National parties. During his time as prime minister he also spent 26 days as Foreign Minister, from 3 to 29 April, making him the shortest serving Indonesian foreign minister as of 2011. As prime minister, he was initially able to draw support from the army by unhesitatingly accepting Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono IX as defence minister. After fourteen months, the cabinet collapsed; the collapse was blamed on land issues.

Post-prime ministership
From 1955 to 1959, Wilopo served as the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia. He later became head of the Commission of Four, a part of the Corruption Eradication Team, with his service beginning in June 1970. Despite finding "corruption everywhere", no actions were taken by the government.

Death
Wilopo died in Jakarta in 1981.

Personal life
During his time in Jakarta, he met Sumikalimah, the younger sister of Abdul Rasyid's mother. Sumikalimah is a teacher at an elementary school. Wilopo began a relationship with Sumikalimah until they got married in October 1917. At that time both Wilopo's biological father and adoptive father had died, so what replaced him was the elder brother of Wilopo's biological father, Soerodiwirjo.

Historical assessment
Herbert Feith, an Australian scholar on Indonesian politics, notes that Wilopo was widely considered fair-minded and sympathetic to the plight of the working classes, working carefully towards his goals. As he did not prioritize party loyalty, he was known as being able to cooperate with anyone.