24 January 1916

Birth of General Soedirman

VIVAnews – 92 years ago today, on 24 January 1916, General Soedirman, the first and the youngest general in Indonesian history, was born.

Soedirman was born in Rembang, Central Java, into a well-to-do Javanese family. His father, Karsid Kartowirodji, was a worker at Kalibagor sugar refinery, while his mother, Siyem, came from an aristocrat family. She was one of the descendants of former assistant regent (wedana) of Rembang.

When Soedirman was 8 years old, he was adopted by R. Tjokrosoenaryo, then assistant wedana of Rembang, who was a close relative of his mother. From 1923 to 1935, Soedirman studied at the Dutch Native School in Purwokerto and later at a Muhammadiyah school in Surakarta.

After being a teacher for a while in Cilacap, Soedirman joined the PETA army (a native auxiliary force set up by the Japanese) and received valuable military training in its college in Bogor. After his graduation, Soedirman was appointed PETA Battalion Commander in Kroya. When the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in 1945, Soedirman successfully seized the Japanese weapons.

After Indonesia’s independence, Soedirman joined the TKR army (the People Security Forces) and was appointed commander of its Fifth Division/Banyumas with the rank of colonel. Later, during the First TKR Congress on 12 November 1945, Soedirman was elected supreme commander of the TKR.

In December 1945, when the Dutch reentered Indonesia through the assistance of the Allied forces, Soedirman led his army to Ambarawa and attacked the Allies. After three days of heavy fighting, the British was defeated and forced to retreat to Semarang on 15 December 1945.   

Three days after the victory, President Soekarno conferred an honorary title of “Panglima Besar” or Supreme Commander to Soedirman and made him a general.  Despite his ailing health due to tuberculosis, during the next five years, Soedirman led several successful guerilla actions against the Dutch.

Soedirman died in Magelang on 29 January 1950 at the young age of 35. He was buried at Heroes’ Cemetary Park in Semaki, Yogyakarta. Later, he received the title of Indonesian National Hero and Independence Defender Hero. Today, Soedirman still hailed as the first and the youngest general in the history of Indonesia.

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19 Maret 2024