Soedarpo Sastrosatomo

Soedarpo Sastrosatomo (30 June 1920 – 22 October 2007) was an Indonesian businessman, diplomat and journalist. He was the founder of Bank Niaga and the shipping firm . Originating from a Javanese family, Soedarpo was active in the Indonesian nationalist movement during his education and later became a press officer for the government. After some time as a diplomat in the United States, he started his own business of distribution and shipping, later expanding to financial services and eventually becoming one of the most successful businessmen in Indonesia. Early life and career Soedarpo was born in Pangkalan Susu, in what is today Langkat Regency of North Sumatra on 30 June 1920, the seventh of nine siblings. He was of Javanese origins, and his father was a clerk for the civil administration of Dutch East Indies. When he was a child, his family moved to Medan, where he went to elementary school. Following his father's death in 1929, Soedarpo's family moved to Yogyakarta, where Soedarpo began his education at an Algemene Middelbare School. By the 1930s, he and his older brother Soebadio moved to Batavia where they enrolled in medical studies. During their time in Batavia, both siblings were active in liberal and radical Indonesian nationalist organizations, and were influenced by Sutan Sjahrir. In 1943, the brothers and Soedjatmoko went directly to Sukarno to criticize his cooperation with the Japanese occupiers. Also in that year, he was expelled from the medical school after participating in protests against the requirement for students to attend daily Japanese flag raising ceremony and bowing towards Tokyo. After this, Soedarpo withdrew from politics for some time, though he remained in contact with Sjahrir.