Sadjarwo Djarwonagoro

Sadjarwo Djarwonagoro (3 August 1917 – 6 May 1996) was a Javanese politician who served as the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Agrarian Affairs, and member of the People's Representative Council and People's Consultative Assembly.

He was also the rector of the Untag (17 August University) in Jakarta.

Sadjarwo was educated in a Dutch school for indigenous people, and continued his studies until high school.

He participated in a nationalist organization during this time.

After graduating from high school, he worked as an employee in the Ministry of Labor, founded the Peasants Front of Indonesia, and participated in political activities in Madiun.

His career began to rise as he was appointed to the Working Body of the Central Indonesian National Committee.

After the recognition of Indonesia, Sadjarwo was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture of Indonesia, representing the Peasants Front of Indonesia.

During his time in the ministry, he enacted several policies, including the merger of several academies owned by the Ministry of Agriculture to form the Academy of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the nationalization of Dutch plantations and farms.

Sadjarwo Djarwonagoro was born on 3 August 1917 in Surakarta.

He began his education at the Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (Dutch school for indigenous people), graduating from the school in 1934.

He continued his studies at the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (equivalent to junior high school) and graduated in 1937.

He went to the Algemene Middelbare School (equivalent to high school), and graduated on 1940.

During this time, he joined the Young Indonesia organization and the Indonesian Students' Union.

After graduation, Sadjarwo worked as a teacher in the Taman Siswa school.

He resigned in 1941, and later worked as the Head of the Land Taxation Office in Kediri in 1943.

He was transferred to Madiun to work in the same position there in 1946.

He was transferred again, and worked as the Head of the Taxation Office in Solo until mid-1947.

During this time, Sadjarwo became one of the founding members of the Peasants Front of Indonesia, and served as the organization's vice chairman.

He also participated in politics as a member of the Regional Indonesian National Committee of Madiun, and as the Deputy Chairman of the Madiun Executive Body.

After his resignation from the taxation office, Sadjarwo became a high-ranking civil employee in the Ministry of Labor.

He was appointed in 1947 as a member of the Working Body of the Central Indonesian National Committee, representing the Peasants Front of Indonesia.

He was seated in the Internal Affairs and Welfare Section.

Sadjarwo was appointed as Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, a state under the United States of Indonesia, in the Halim Cabinet.

He was involved in the creation of the Basic Agrarian Law, which had been proposed since 1948.

He proposed the bill to the People's Representative Council, and it was enacted shortly thereafter.

After the enactment of the law, he began to implement land reform in Indonesia, but failed due to the prolonged conflicts between various political groups.

He was appointed as a member of the People's Consultative Assembly and the People's Representative Council after his appointment as minister was not renewed for the next term.

After his resignation from the former position, he became the rector of the Untag (17 August University), a private university in Indonesia.

After the dissolution of the federal state, he was appointed to the same position in the First Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet, Djuanda Cabinet, Fourth Working Cabinet, and the Dwikora Cabinet, which spanned from 1950 until 1959.

During his tenure as the Minister of Agriculture, Sadjarwo actively participated in international conferences regarding agricultural affairs.

He attended the 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1957 Rubber Study Group Conference as the leader of the Indonesian delegates.

In 1952, when he was not re-appointed as Minister of Agriculture, he was appointed by the Minister of Agriculture at that time, Mohammad Sardjan, as a member of a committee to research and implement Food and Agriculture Organization decisions regarding the agricultural problems in Indonesia.

As the Minister of Agriculture, Sadjarwo targeted the year 1954 as the beginning of Indonesia's self-sufficiency on rice production.

He stated that rice imports only serve to build inventory and stabilize domestic prices.

He highlighted this plan during a visit to Kalimantan, where he also recommended that a fishery cooperative should be established, fishing ships should be motorized, and timber quality in Kalimantan should be improved.

During the formation of the Second Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet, there were calls from President Sukarno and the Central All-Indonesian Workers Organization to place a leftist minister in the cabinet, to take the position of the State Minister for Transmigration Affairs.

Even though Sadjarwo was nominally independent, he was the vice chairman of the BTI, which influenced Sukarno to nominate him as a possible leftist minister.

He was re-appointed as the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs in 1959.

In 1989, seven years prior to his death, he was accused of being a communist by Soegiarso Soerojo, a book author, and Ruben Nalenan, a lecturer from Untag.

He proved his innocence of these accusations.