Samsi Sastrawidagda
{{Short description|Indonesian politician (1894–1963)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Dr.
| name = Samsi Sastrawidagda
| image = Samsi 0.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| alt = Official portrait of Samsi Sastrawidagda
| caption = Official portrait, {{circa|1945}}
| order = 1st
| office = List of Ministers of Finance (Indonesia){{!}}Minister of Finance
| term_start = 2 September
| term_end = 26 September 1945
| president = Sukarno
| predecessor = Office established
| successor = A. A. Maramis
| office1 = Member of the BPUPK
| term_start1 = 28 May
| term_end1 = 7 August 1945
| predecessor1 = Organization established
| successor1 = Organization abolished
| birth_date = {{birth date|1894|3|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Surakarta, Dutch East Indies
| death_date = 1963 (aged 68-69)
}}
Samsi Sastrawidagda (13 March 1894 – 1963) was an Indonesian politician who was the first Minister of Finance of Indonesia, serving for just under one month in September 1945. He was also one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party.
Early life and education
He was born in Surakarta on 13 March 1894. He was a graduate of a Hollandsch-Inlandsche School and went to the Netherlands in 1913 with a scholarship from Budi Utomo, graduating from a teachers' training school. He continued his studies at the Rotterdam Trade School, graduating with his dissertation De Ontwikkeling v.d handels politik van Japan (The Development of the Trade Politics of Japan). In the Netherlands, he was recruited to teach Javanese and Malay.{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Benedict Richard O'Gorman |title=Revoloesi pemoeda: pendudukan Jepang dan perlawanan di Jawa 1944-1946 |date=1988 |publisher=Pustaka Sinar Harapan |isbn=978-979-416-027-5 |page=474 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kAyAAAAIAAJ&q=samsi+sastrawidagda+benedict+anderson |language=id}}{{cite book |last1=Otterspeer |first1=W. |title=Leiden Oriental Connections: 1850 - 1940 |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09022-4 |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dUv3dF7aDycC&dq=samsi+sastrawidagda&pg=PA260 |language=en}} He also travelled to Denmark in 1925 with Mohammad Hatta to study cooperative business there.{{cite book |last1=Suleman |first1=Zulfikri |title=Demokrasi untuk Indonesia: pemikiran politik Bung Hatta |date=2010 |publisher=Penerbit Buku Kompas |isbn=978-979-709-484-3 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQcoX89FKmEC&dq=hatta+samsi&pg=PA80 |language=id}}
Career
After returning to Indonesia, Samsi was one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party (PNI) on 4 July 1927, along with Sukarno, Sartono, and Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo among others. He was appointed as party commissioner.{{cite book |last1=Ingleson |first1=John |title=Jalan ke pengasingan: Pergerakan Nasionalis Indonesia tahun 1927-1934 |date=1983 |publisher=Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Penerangan Ekonomi dan Sosial |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9EjAAAAMAAJ&q=4+juli+1927+samsi+komisioner |language=id}} During this period, Samsi worked in Bandung, where he leased the veranda of Sukarno's home for use as his accountant's office.{{cite news |title=Sukarno, Kopi, dan Peuyeum |url=https://historia.id/histeria/articles/sukarno-kopi-dan-peuyeum-6any9 |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=Historia |date=31 October 2019 |language=id}} Later, he moved to Surabaya after the arrest of many nationalists and the disbandment of PNI, and there he joined Partindo.{{cite book |title=Orang Indonesia jang terkemoeka di Djawa |date=1944 |publisher=Gunseikanbu |page=296 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dM8LAAAAIAAJ&dq=samsi+indonesia+bank&pg=PA296 |language=id}}{{cite web |title=Tokoh-tokoh Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia Jilid 2 |url=http://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/12970/1/Tokoh%20tokoh%20badan%20penyelidik%20usaha%20usaha%20persiapan%20kemerdekaan%20indonesia.pdf |publisher=Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Direktorat Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional, Proyek Inventarisasi dan Dokumentasi Sejarah Nasional |access-date=29 October 2021 |pages=133–135 |language=id |date=1993}}
Prior to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia in 1942, Samsi was considered by the Japanese as a potential fifth columnist which would aid the invasion, though such efforts ended up unnecessary.{{cite journal |last1=Touwen-Bouwsma |first1=Elly |title=The Indonesian Nationalists and the Japanese "Liberation" of Indonesia: Visions and Reactions |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=1996 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1017/S002246340001064X |jstor=20071754 |s2cid=159612691 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20071754 |access-date=22 October 2021 |issn=0022-4634}}{{rp|2}} During the occupation, he was a member of the Japanese-established Central Advisory Council and labor organization {{ill|Pusat Tenaga Rakyat|id}}, in addition to being an adviser to the Finance Department of the occupation government.{{cite book |last1=Malaka |first1=Tan |title=From Jail to Jail |date=10 March 2020 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-89680-404-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqAMEAAAQBAJ&dq=samsi+chuo+sangi+in+putera&pg=PT780 |language=en}} He was also appointed as a member of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK).{{cite news |title=Daftar Anggota BPUPKI |url=https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2020/02/12/060000469/daftar-anggota-bpupki |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=KOMPAS.com |date=11 February 2020 |language=id}}{{cite book |author = Arniati Prasedyawati Herkusumo | title = Chuo Sangi-in: Dewan Pertimbang Pusat Pada Masa Pendudukan Jepang|language = Indonesian |trans-title = Chuo Sangi-in: The Central Advisory Council during the Japanese Occupation | publisher =PT. Rosda Jayaputra |location = Jakarta, Indonesia| year = 1982 |pages=35–36}}
Following the proclamation of Indonesian independence, Samsi was appointed as the Finance Minister in the first Indonesian cabinet. During his brief tenure, Samsi attempted to raise funds for the new government by accessing leftover funds from the previous Dutch East Indies government seized by the Japanese following the invasion. One such source was a bank in Surabaya, and obtaining it was made possible due to Samsi's close connections with Japanese military officers. A "robbery" was arranged in order to hide the Japanese officers' involvement. The act raised money for both the central republican government and for the local militia units in Surabaya. He resigned for health reasons on 26 September 1945 and was replaced by Alexander Andries Maramis. Samsi served in the ministerial post from 2 to 26 September 1945.{{cite web |title=Samsi Sastrawidagda |url=https://www.kemenkeu.go.id/profil/daftar-menteri/samsi-sastrawidagda/ |publisher=Ministry of Finance |access-date=22 October 2021 |language=id}}{{cite book |last1=Ilham |first1=Osa Kurniawan |title=Beras untuk India: Solidaritas Kemanusiaan dalam Pusaran Revolusi Indonesia dan India 1945-1946 |date=2021 |publisher=Elex Media Komputindo |isbn=978-623-00-2427-6 |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrU8EAAAQBAJ&dq=samsi+indonesia&pg=PA93 |language=id}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Members of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence}}
Category:Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni
Category:Ministers of finance of Indonesia
Category:Indonesian National Party politicians
Category:Members of the Central Advisory Council