Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo

Iskaq was born in the village of Ngepeh, in Jombang Regency, on 11 July 1896.[1] His parents were Javanese nobility, and his father worked as a civil servant for the colonial government. Iskaq began schooling at a village school (Volksschool), before moving to Nganjuk to enter Europeesche Lagere School between 1904 and 1911. He continued his studies at Rechts-Hogeschool (Law High School) in Batavia, and between 1917 and 1922 he worked in legal courts - initially as an assistant at the district courts of Madiun and Ponorogo, then as a jury in Magelang, a clerk at the high court in Surabaya, and finally a judge at the district court in Semarang. He then enrolled at the University of Leiden, graduating in 1925 and being awarded a Meester in de Rechten (Master of Laws) title.[2][3]

While the nationalist student organization Perhimpoenan Indonesia was active in Leiden, Iskaq was not active in the organization, as he was working at the stock market and did not want to risk his employment. He was still interested in politics, however, and when he graduated on 30 June 1925 and returned to Java in 1926, he decided against working for the colonial government.[3][4] According to Iskaq in a 1971 interview, his decision was motivated by his more egalitarian treatment in the Netherlands compared to his treatment by colonial authorities back home.[5]

Upon his return from Leiden, Iskaq founded the first native Indonesian law office in Batavia along with several other such as future parliamentary speaker Sartono and future prime minister Ali Sastroamidjojo. He later moved to Bandung and founded another law office there (as he had a Dutch wife, whom he thought would fit in better in Bandung), and left leadership of the Batavia office to Sartono.[4][6] He was one of the founders of the General Study Club (Algemeene Studieclub) in Bandung, formed on 29 November 1925.[7] Iskaq co-founded the Indonesian National Party (PNI) in 1927, and in its initial provisional leadership he was appointed as secretary/treasurer while future President Sukarno served as chairman. Iskaq had also prepared the provisional statutes for the organisation.[8]

In 1929, along with Sukarno and a few others, Iskaq was arrested due to involvement in PNI – and then shortly after released, under the conditions that he not return to Batavia or Bandung. He moved to Surabaya and set up a law office there (also the first native Indonesian law office in the city), and then to Makassar in 1930, setting up another office. He then left for Manado, leaving the Makassar office to future foreign minister Soenario, and set up yet another law office. In 1933, he returned to Surabaya,[4] and worked as an advocate at the Surabaya High Court.[3] Iskaq's Batavia office was highly involved in politics, with many of the advocates there being PNI members.[9] Iskaq later became a member of another nationalist political party Partindo, before later joining the Great Indonesia Party (Parindra) after Partindo's dissolution.[10] According to Iskaq in his autobiography, he had encountered a Japanese agent at Bangkok in mid-1941, and Iskaq provided the agent with "all the information [he] could".[11] During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Iskaq was made the assistant resident of Banyumas,[12][13] and was appointed into the Central Advisory Council, a representative body.[14]

Following the surrender of Japan and the proclamation of Indonesian Independence, Iskaq became the resident, and facilitated negotiations of the disarming of 450 Japanese troops in Banyumas - hence giving their weapons to the nationalist units under the command of General Sudirman.[15] He also abolished a traditional system of tax-exempt religious villages in Banyumas.[16] On 18 July 1946, Iskaq was appointed as resident of Surakarta, with local militia figure Sudiro as his deputy. As part of this office, Iskaq and Sudiro organized the region, previously under the Surakarta Sunanate and Mangkunegaran administration during the colonial period, into a regular Residency. To this end, they merged the former territories of the two princely states and reorganized them into the city of Surakarta and the regencies of Sukoharjo and Karanganyar. In November 1946 they were kidnapped by communists, although they were shortly after released after pressure from the Republican government in Yogyakarta.[17][18][19] Iskaq later took part in the Renville Agreement, a meeting between Indonesian and Dutch leaders to demarcate boundaries between territories controlled by the two sides. Iskaq was secretary to the Indonesian delegation.[3]

In late 1965, following an attempted coup, internal disputes within PNI arose from the suspension of members such as Osa Maliki, Hadisubeno Sosrowerdojo and Hardi. Iskaq attempted to organize a committee to reunite the party, but this was not accepted by the incumbent leadership led by Party Chairman Ali Sastroamidjojo.[38] He attempted to organize a party congress ahead of schedule, but this did not bear fruit and instead meetings between the opposing factions were organized by Suharto in March 1966. Iskaq was appointed as chairman for an emergency party congress, which was held on 24 April 1966 in Bandung. During the congress, many delegations who supported Ali's leadership were restricted or arrested, with the military being friendly to Osa Maliki's faction of the party. Following private negotiations, Ali acquitted to Osa's demands, and Osa was made chairman of PNI.[39] Following the PNI's poor performance in the 1971 legislative election, the party was merged into the Indonesian Democratic Party in 1973. Iskaq refused to participate in the new party,[6] instead founding the "Marhaenism Foundation" in 1980 and the "Indonesian National Movement" in 1982 in an attempt to organize former PNI members.[40] He died on 11 September 1984 due to a heart attack and related complications.[41]