Soepomo

Prof. Dr. Mr. Soepomo (22 January 1903 – 12 September 1958) was Indonesia's first Minister of Justice, serving in the Presidential Cabinet from 19 August to 14 November 1945 and from 20 December 1949 to 6 September 1950.

Biography

Soepomo was born in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Dutch East Indies on 22 January 1903. He came from a noble family; his maternal and paternal grandfathers were high-ranking government officials.

Soepomo began his schooling at the Europeesche Lagere School in Boyolali in 1917, later studying at a Meer Uitgebreid Lagere Onderwijs in Surakarta beginning in 1920. In 1923 he moved to Batavia, where he studied at the Bataviasche Rechtsschool. After graduating, he initially took a job at a court in Surakarta, later going to Leiden, Netherlands to spend three years studying at Leiden University under Cornelis van Vollenhoven. He graduated in 1927, with his thesis, entitled "Reorganisatie van het Agrarisch Stelsel in het Gewest Soerakarta" ("Agrarian System Reform in the Surakarta Area"), containing both a description of the agrarian system in Surakarta and veiled critiques of Dutch colonialism.