Mohammad Hatta

Mohammad Hatta (12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first vice president as well as the third prime minister.

Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of Indonesia from the Netherlands.

Hatta was an important figure during the Indonesian national awakening and during the national revolution, as a youth he was politically active both in the Netherlands and the Indies, which led him to be imprisoned in the Boven Digoel concentration camp for his activism, he also played a crucial part in the proclamation of Indonesian independence, being second the person to sign the declaration besides Sukarno, thus naming him as one of the founders of Indonesia.

Hatta was born in Fort De Kock (now known as Bukittinggi) on 12 August 1902 into a prominent and strongly Islamic family.

His grandfather, Sheikh Abdurrahman, was a respected Naqshbandi-Khalidi murshid in Batuhampar, near Payakumbuh.

His father, Haji Mohammad Djamil, died when he was eight months old and he was left with his six sisters and his mother.

As in the matrilineal society of Minangkabau tradition, he was then raised in his mother's family.

His mother's family was wealthy, and Hatta was able to study Dutch as well as finishing Qur'an after school.

He went to the Dutch language elementary school (ELS or Europeesche Lagere School) in Padang from 1913 to 1916 after he had finished Sekolah Melayu ('Malay School') in Bukittinggi.

When he was thirteen, he passed an exam that entitled him to enroll in the Dutch secondary school (HBS or Hogere burgerschool) in Batavia (now Jakarta).

However his mother asked him to stay in Padang because he was still too young to go to the capital alone.

Hatta then entered junior secondary school or MULO (Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs).

During his spare time, he worked part-time in a post office.

Normally, MULO students were not allowed to work, but he was able to work there because of the HBS exam qualification.

Hatta was interested in football; he joined his school's football team and was made its chairman.

He broadened his sphere of contacts by using his position.

Hatta used to visit the office of the Sarikat Usaha (United Endeavor), led by Taher Marah Soetan.

In the office, he read Dutch newspapers, particularly about political debates in the Volksraad (parliament) of the Dutch East Indies.

It was at the age of sixteen that Hatta began to be interested in politics and national movements.

He was chosen the treasurer of the branch of the Jong Sumatranen Bond (or youth association of Sumatra), which was first established in Padang in 1918.

In 1919, Hatta finally went to the HBS in Batavia.

He completed his study with distinction in 1921, and was allowed to continue to study at Erasmus University Rotterdam (then known as the Netherlands School of Commerce) in Rotterdam.

In 1922, the organization changed its name to Indonesische Vereeniging and later to its Indonesian translation: the Perhimpoenan Indonesia.

Hatta was the treasurer (1922–1925), and then the chairman (1926–1930).

On his inauguration, Hatta delivered a speech with the title of "The Economic World Structure and the Conflict of Power", in which he supported the idea of Indonesian non-cooperation with the Dutch colonial government in order to gain its independence.

The Perhimpoenan Indonesia then changed from being a student organization into a political organization and had an unequivocal demand for Indonesia's independence.

It expressed its voice through the magazine called Indonesia Merdeka (or Free Indonesia) of which Hatta was the editor.

To gain more support from other nations, Hatta attended congresses all over Europe, always as the chairman of the Indonesian delegation.

In 1926, Hatta and Perhimpoenan Indonesia joined the (sixth) International Democratic Congress for Peace in Marc Sangnier's domaine de Bierville (Boissy-la-Rivière), France.

In February 1927, Hatta went to Brussels to attend a congress held by the League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression.

He met many other prominent nationalists there, including Jawaharlal Nehru from India, Mohammad Hafiz Ramadan Bey from Egypt and Lamine Senghor from Senegal.

Later in the year, Hatta attended another congress held by the International Women's League for Peace and Freedom in Switzerland.

On that occasion, Hatta delivered a speech with the title of "Indonesia and her Independence Problem".

By the middle of 1927, Perhimpoenan Indonesia's activities had alarmed the Dutch authorities.

In June 1927, Dutch authorities raided the residence of the organization's leaders, searching through their rooms and putting Hatta and other four other Indonesian activists behind bars.

He took economics as his major and earned a doctorandus degree in 1932.

The degree entitled him to follow a doctorate program.

He then continued to pursue the doctorate degree, and completed all requirements to be awarded it, but he never finished his thesis.

Politics had taken over Hatta's life.

In the Netherlands, Hatta joined the Indische Vereeniging (or the Indies' Association).