User:The man from Gianyar/Surachman Tjokroadisurjo

Ir. Raden Mas Panji Surachman Tjokroadisurjo (30 August 1894 – 16 November 1952), more commonly referred to Surachman Tjokroadisurjo, was an Indonesian politician and academic from the province of Central Java. He served in a number of national cabinets during the National Revolution, as the Minister of Welfare and later the Minister of Finance. Born in Wonosobo, Dutch East Indies, he studied chemical engineering at the Delft Institute of Technology, Netherlands. He returned to Indonesia in 1920, and worked for the Dutch government in a chemical laboratory in Bandung.

Following the proclamation of independence, he was appointed as Minister for Economic Affairs in the Presidential Cabinet. However, he only served for two months, before being appointed Minister of Finance, replacing the ill Sunarjo Kolopaking. He was replaced as finance minister by his deputy Sjafruddin Prawiranegara upon the formation of the Third Sjahrir Cabinet. He remained active in government affairs, and was appointed as the first Rector of the University of Indonesia. Whilst on a diplomatic mission in the Netherlands, he died on 16 November 1952, from hypertension.

Early life
Raden Mas Panji Surachman Tjokroadisurjo was born in Wonosobo, Dutch East Indies, on 30 August 1894. He was a descendent of Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono II, and he had twelve siblings. His father, Raden Mas Tumenggung Suryoadikusumo, the third regent of Wonosobo. His grandfather, Raden Mas Adipati Aryo Cokroadisuryo, also served as the regent of Wonosobo. He studied at a Europeesche Lagere School before continuing to a Hogere Burgerschool in Batavia. In 1915, he went to the Netherlands where he studied chemical engineering at the Delft Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1920, and became the first Indonesian chemical engineer. Prior returning to the Indies, he briefly undertook an internship in Germany.

Early career
After returning, Surachman was appointed to lead a chemical laboratory in Bandung, where he worked with batik workers and silversmiths, rejecting a job offer in the police department. In this period, he built a relationship with Bandung-based nationalists including Sukarno, and Surachman was relocated to Bogor due to suspicions arising from those contacts. He was later relocated again to Yogyakarta before returning to Bogor. Due to his government work, he decided against openly supporting the nationalist movement, but he did provide donations including helping fund the 1928 Second Youth Congress. In 1936, he was assigned to the colonial government's Economic Department in Batavia. During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, he was first appointed as a member of the Putera organization, before his appointment as chief of the economic department in July 1945.