Try Sutrisno

Try Sutrisno Malay pronunciation: [tri sutrisnɔ] (born Surabaya, East Java 15 November 1935) was Indonesia's sixth vice president from 1993 to 1998.

Early life

Try Sutrisno was born on 15 November 1935 in Surabaya, East Java. His father Subandi was an ambulance driver, and his mother Mardiyah was a housewife. After the Indonesian Proclamation of Independence, the Dutch returned to claim back Indonesia as their colony. Try and his family moved out of Surabaya to Mojokerto. His father worked as a medical officer for the Poncowati Army Battalion, forcing Try to stop his schooling and find a living as a cigarette and newspaper seller.

Aged just 13, Try wanted to join the Poncowati Battalion and fight but no one took him seriously and he ended up being employed as a courier instead. Try's duty was to find information to areas occupied by the Dutch Army as well as retrieving medicine for the Indonesian Army. Finally in 1949, the Dutch retreated and recognized Indonesia's Independence. Try and his family then returned to Surabaya where he completed his education in 1956.