Satrio Sastrodiredjo

Satrio Sastrodiredjo
Vice Governor of East Java
In office 22 May 1963 – 1965
Preceded by	Mochamad Wijono [id]
Succeeded by	M. Soegiono (1977)
Mayor of Surabaya
In office 30 June 1958 – 22 May 1963
Preceded by	Istadjab Tjokrokoesoemo [id]
Succeeded by	Moerachman
Personal details
Born	(1913-06-14)14 June 1913 Purwodadi, Grobogan, Dutch East Indies
Died	(time and place of died unknown)
Political party	Communist Party of Indonesia

Satrio Sastrodiredjo (14 June 1913 – ?) was an Indonesian physician and politician of the Indonesian Communist Party. He served as the Vice Governor of East Java between 1963 and 1965, and previously as the mayor of Surabaya between 1958 and 1963. His political career was cut short after the 30 September movement and he was imprisoned.

Early life

Sastrodiredjo was born in Purwodadi, Grobogan on 14 June 1913. He graduated from an Europeesche Lagere School (elementary school) in 1928, and a Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (middle school) in 1932. He then enrolled at the medical training school Nederlandsch Indische Artsen School (NIAS) in Surabaya, graduating in 1942.^[1]

Career

During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Sastrodiredjo worked as a physician for sugar companies in Situbondo.^[1] In the Indonesian National Revolution, Sastrodiredjo served as Junior Minister of Health in the Republican government under Amir Sjarifuddin.^[2] After the war, he worked at the municipal health department of Surabaya and later became the assistant director of the city's public hospital,^[2] while also lecturing at the faculty of medicine of Airlangga University. He became a member of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1953.^[3] Following the 1955 national and 1958 local elections in Surabaya, where PKI made significant gains and came to dominate the city's legislature, Satrio was chosen as the city's first PKI mayor.^[2][4] He was sworn in as mayor on 30 June 1958.^[5] Although he was a PKI member, Satrio enjoyed good personal relations with U.S. consular staff in Surabaya.^[6]

His tenure as mayor of Surabaya ended on 22 May 1963 when he was appointed as the Vice Governor of East Java,^[7] with fellow PKI-backed candidate Moerachman replacing him as mayor.^[8] Following the 30 September movement and the ensuing purges against PKI, according to the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya, Sastrodiredjo had not been removed from his post by December 1965, although he was "staying quietly at home".^[9] He was eventually detained along with other political prisoners at the Kalisosok Prison [id] in Surabaya.^[10] According to a letter by another political prisoner, Sastrodiredjo was tortured at Kalisosok.^[11] Moerachman was also imprisoned at Kalisosok, and is believed to have died there.^[12] Little to none is known of Sastrodiredjo's fate afterwards.^[3] Due to censorship of PKI-related symbolism, his portrait along with those of Moerachman would not be displayed by the Surabaya municipal government until the tenure of Tri Rismaharini in the 2010s.^[12]

Family

Sastrodiredjo was the younger brother of Ibnu Sutowo, who later headed the state-owned Pertamina oil firm.^[2] His wife was active in the Gerwani women's organization affiliated with PKI, and she was also detained by the army in 1965.^[13]

References

1. Orang Indonesia jang terkemoeka di Djawa (in Indonesian). Gunseikanbu. 1944. p. 352.
2. Dick, Howard W. (2003). Surabaya, City of Work: A Socioeconomic History, 1900-2000. Singapore University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-9971-69-264-3.
3. Husain, Sarkawi B. (2021). Negara di Tengah Kota: Politik Representasi dan Simbolisme Perkotaan (Surabaya 1930-1960) (in Indonesian). LIPI Press. pp. 56–58. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
4. Setiyawan, Dahlia Gratia (2014). The Cold War in the City of Heroes: U.S.-Indonesian Relations and Anti-Communist Operations in Surabaya, 1963-1965 (PDF) (PhD). University of California, Los Angeles. p. 76. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
5. Setiyawan 2014, p. 170.
6. Setiyawan 2014, p. 135.
7. Setiyawan 2014, p. 168.
8. "Tugu Pak Sakerah dan Wali Kota Surabaya dari PKI". Historia (in Indonesian). 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
9. "Telegram 187 from American Consulate Surabaya to American Embassy Jakarta, 'Joint sitrep 19', Confidential". National Security Archive. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
10. Hearman, Vanessa (15 August 2018). Unmarked Graves: Death and Survival in the Anti-Communist Violence in East Java, Indonesia. NUS Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-981-4722-94-0.
11. Human Rights in Indonesia and the Philippines: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fourth Cangress, December 18, 1975 and May 3, 1976. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976. p. 13.
12. "Tugu Pak Sakerah dan Wali Kota Surabaya dari PKI". Historia (in Indonesian). 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
13. Lestariningsih, Amurwani Dwi (2011). Gerwani: kisah tapol wanita di Kamp Plantungan (in Indonesian). Penerbit Buku Kompas. p. 132. ISBN 978-979-709-602-1.