Moestopo

Moestopo
Moestopo in the 1940s
Born	(1913-07-13)13 July 1913 Kediri, East Java, Dutch East Indies
Died	29 September 1986(1986-09-29) (aged 73) Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
Buried at	Cikutra Cemetery, Bandung
Allegiance	Indonesia
Service/branch	Army, medical
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	Battle of Surabaya
Awards	National Hero of Indonesia
Other work	Dentist, founder of Moestopo University

Major General Professor Moestopo (13 July 1913 – 29 September 1986) was an Indonesian dentist, freedom fighter, and educator. He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia on 10 November 2007.

Born in Kediri, East Java, Moestopo moved to Surabaya to attend the School of Dentistry there. At first becoming a practitioner, his work was interrupted in 1942 when the Japanese occupied Indonesia and Moestopo was arrested by the Kempeitai for looking suspicious. Upon his release, he became a dentist for the Japanese but eventually decided to train as an army officer. After graduating with honours, Moestopo was given command of PETA troops in Sidoarjo; he was later promoted to commander of the troops in Surabaya.

While in Surabaya, during the Indonesian National Revolution Moestopo dealt with British expeditionary forces led by Brigadier Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby. When relations broke down and President Sukarno was called to Surabaya to mend them, Moestopo was offered a job as an adviser but declined. During the war he held several other positions, including leading a squadron of regular soldiers, pickpockets, and prostitutes to spread confusion in the ranks of the enemy Dutch forces. After the war, Moestopo continued to work as a dentist, and in 1961 he founded Moestopo University. He died in Bandung in 1986.

Moestopo was born in Ngadiluwih, Kediri, East Java, Dutch East Indies on 13 June 1913. He was the sixth of eight children born to Raden Koesoemowinoto. After his primary schooling, Moestopo went to the School of Dentistry (STOVIT) in Surabaya. His education initially paid for by his elder siblings, Moestopo later took to selling rice to earn his way through university. Taking further education in the field in Surabaya and Yogyakarta, in 1937 he became an assistant orthodontist in Surabaya. From 1941 to 1942, he became the assistant director of STOVIT.

After the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942 Moestopo was arrested by the Kempeitai as a suspected Indo (a person of mixed European and Indonesian heritage); this suspicion was based on Moestopo's large frame. However, he was soon released and, after serving as an army dentist for the Japanese, received military training in Bogor. Along with future generals Sudirman and Gatot Soebroto, he finished at the top of his class. During his training he wrote a paper on the military applications of bamboo spears tipped with horse feces, for which he received high marks.