Sartono

Sartono (on the far right), as a student in the Netherlands

Sartono was born in Wonogiri, near what is today Surakarta, on 5 August 1900.[2] Born to a noble ethnic-Javanese family, he was the second oldest of seven children. His father, Raden Mas Martodikarjo, was a civil servant who was a descendant of Prince Mangkunegara II. His mother was a noblewomen, who was a descendant of Prince Mangkunegara III.[3][4] In 1906, he left Wonogiri and began his education at the Europeesche Lagere School in Surakarta, a school only for children of noble descent. There, he graduated in 1913, with the highest grade. After graduating, he was accepted to the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) school also in Surakarta.[5] Sartono spent three years in MULO, from 1913 until 1916, and after graduating, he left for Batavia.[6][7] In Batavia, he entered the School tot Opleiding voor Inlandsche Rechtskundigen, later known as the Rechts School, a law institute for the native Indonesian nobility.[8][9]

At Rechts School, he joined the Tri Koro Dharmo organization, a youth organization of Budi Utomo, which later evolved into Jong Java.[10] In 1921, he passed in his law examination, and received the title of "rechtskundige" (jurist). After graduating, he became a civil servant at the District Court in Surakarta for around six months.[11] In September 1922, Sartono left his job as a civil servant, and departed to the Netherlands, to study for a doctorate in law at Leiden University, along with his former classmate Iwa Koesoemasoemantri. The pair departed from Surakarta to the port of Tanjung Priok, the main hub for transportation from the colony to Europe.[12] They arrived in Genoa, Italy, before taking the train to the Netherlands.[13] During his studies in Leiden, he joined the Perhimpoenan Indonesia association, and became the associations secretary from 1922 until 1925.[14][15]

After completing his studies, Sartono returned to the Indies in 1925, and opened a law practice in the city of Bandung,[2] together with his friends from Leiden (including Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo, Budiarto Martoatmodjo, and Soenario). The young advocates were successful in handling the legal actions of Dutch authorities.[16] One notable case they handled was the trial of a man named Jasin, who was a train conductor from Tasikmalaya. Jasin was accused of being part of the failed 1926 communist revolt. As a result of Sartono's defense, Jasin's punishment was lightened, but he was still found guilty, and exiled to the Boven-Digoel concentration camp, in West New Guinea.[17] Sartono later participated in the founding of the Indonesian National Party (PNI) at Bandung on 4 July 1927.[18] Following the 1929 PNI congress in Yogyakarta, he was appointed as treasurer of the party.[19] He also became the legal adviser during the second Indonesian youth congress in 1928 – which resulted in the Youth Pledge.[20]

Portrait of Sartono, date unknown

In 1930, the Dutch colonial government arrested four of the PNI's leaders, and later sentenced them to prison time.[21] Sartono was not arrested, and instead he became one of Sukarno's defense lawyers during Sukarno's trials in Bandung.[22] In 1931, Sartono founded the Partindo party, after the disbanding of the PNI. During his leadership of Partindo, he created a department for labor unions, which Sartono directly managed. Despite this, Sartono argued that labor unions should not engage in politics.[23] Sartono led Partindo until 1933, when the released Sukarno was elected the party chief and Sartono became his deputy.[24][21] Around the same period, the Swadeshi movement in Colonial India began capturing the attention of the many politically active Indonesians.[25] This included Sartono, who became an advocate for the movement, and also chaired a commission on the movement within Partindo.[26]

After Sukarno's election as leader, however, Sukarno's view that labor unions should be associated with political parties became dominant – and in 1933, the party's official position became that labor unions must be based on political parties.[27] Partindo was again disbanded in 1937, and Sartono further took part in the founding of another party, Gerindo, where he was deputy chief under Amir Syarifuddin.[14][28] Following the successful Japanese invasion of Indonesia, Sartono briefly left politics and handled rubber plantations in the Bogor region.[29] He was also head of the organizational section of the Japan-founded labor organization Putera and a member of the Javanese Central Advisory Council, also set up the occupation government. In 1945, he was appointed as a member of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence.[29] For some time, he was also the adviser to the Japanese Department of Internal Affairs between December 1944 until June 1945.[14][30]

The Jakarta Art Building (pictured in 2018), where the Central Indonesian National Committee first convened in

Shortly after the proclamation of Indonesian independence, Sartono was appointed as one of five ministers of state (alongside Oto Iskandar di Nata, Mohammad Amir, Wahid Hasyim, and A.A. Maramis).[31] Sartono and Maramis were dispatched to Central Java's traditional monarchies (the Surakarta Sunanate and Yogyakarta Sultanate) to give assurances that the monarchies would remain in exchange for support of the new nationalist government.[32] On 19 August 1945, he took part in a meeting which resulted in the agreement to form the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP).[33] Sartono also rejoined the reformed Sukarno-led PNI.[34] The party had significant internal issues due to personal and ideological differences of its members, with Mohammad Hatta remarking in an interview with Irish historian Benedict Anderson that Sartono and Abikusno Tjokrosujoso had internal conflicts almost immediately after its founding.[35]

In December 1945, he became chief of the political department of a further restructured PNI.[36] Sartono was a member of the KNIP and was part of its leadership until October 1945, when the leadership was replaced by a new group of younger members.[37] Later, he would return to the leadership positions, becoming deputy chair of the body's Working Committee (which ran day-to-day affairs) by January 1947.[38] He lost the position in an election in April 1947, but was voted back in July 1949.[39] He left the body in 1949 as he joined the People's Representative Council of the United States of Indonesia (DPR-RIS).[40] He had been appointed as the head of a good offices mission to the State of East Indonesia in December 1948, but the mission was cancelled.[2][41] During the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference, Sartono also served as a general adviser for the Indonesian delegation.[41]

After several years of being unemployed, Sartono accepted an offer by Sukarno to serve in the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), as the body's vice speaker in 1962.[59] Throughout his time in the parliament – and during his time at DPA – Sartono pushed with little success laws meant to strengthen the government's financial accountability. American scholar Daniel Lev wrote that Sartono's experience in the body "was a great disappointment to him".[58] He eventually resigned from the DPA and left politics entirely in 1967. He died in Jakarta on 15 October 1968, and was buried in Surakarta.[42] According to author and historian, Nyak Wali Alfa Tirta, Sartono was a quiet, but well liked person, by both his opponents and friends.[60] The city government of Surakarta, along with the Mangkunegaran family foundation, have campaigned to make Sartono a National Hero of Indonesia.[61] A street in the city of Malang is named after him.[62]