Sukarno

Who is Sukarno?

Sukarno was the founding father and first President of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Born in Surabaya, East Java, he trained as a civil engineer at the Bandung Institute of Technology before dedicating himself to the nationalist movement against Dutch colonial rule. In 1927 he founded the Indonesian National Party (PNI) and was repeatedly imprisoned and exiled by the colonial authorities for his agitation. On 17 August 1945, together with Mohammad Hatta, he proclaimed Indonesian independence and read the Proclamation text. He articulated Pancasila, the five founding principles of the Indonesian state, in a famous 1945 speech. As president he championed anti-colonialism internationally, co-hosting the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung and helping found the Non-Aligned Movement. His later 'Guided Democracy' era grew increasingly authoritarian, and after the turmoil of 1965 he ceded power to Suharto.

Sources: Cindy Adams, Sukarno: An Autobiography as Told to Cindy Adams (1965) · J.D. Legge, Sukarno: A Political Biography (1972)